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BIBLE STUDY sy DOCTRINES 


A New Method for Adult Bible 
and Teacher Training Classes 


By HENRY T. SELL, D.D. 
Each, Paper, Net, 50 cts. - Cloth, Net, 75 cts. 


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Studies in the Four Gospels. 

Bible Studies in Vital Questions. 
Studies in Early Church History. 
Studies in the Life of the Christian. 
Bible Studies in the Life of Paul. 
Bible Studies in the Life of Christ. 
Bible Studies by Doctrines. 

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Introductory Bible Studies. 


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BIBLE STUDY py DOCTRINES 


TWENTY-FOUR STUDIES OF GREAT DOCTRINES 





EL UGIOAL 


BY ty 
REV MRENRY) To SELEY Dib: 


author of *‘ Supplemental Bible Studies,” “* Bible Study by Books,” “Bible 
Study by Periods,’ ‘Bible Studies in the Life of Christ,” 
“* Bible Studies in the Life of Paul,” and “* Studies 
in the Life of the Christian.” 


FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 
NEW YORK : CHICAGO TORONTO 


Publishers of Evangelical Literature 





Ne ie ant y ‘ - Pi Wenps di 





Copyrighted, 1897, 1926, by Freune H. Revert Con 


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FOREWORD—REVISED EDITION 


The interest, in the study of religion, is increasing. 
We see evidence of this in many quarters. 

All Christians ought to be able to give good and 
intelligent reasons for the faith that is in them; to 
know why they believe and upon what grounds. 

This book, ‘‘Bible Study by Doctrines,’’ which has 
passed through many editions and the demand is for 
more, gives brief summaries of the leading Christian 
beliefs. The attempt is made to show upon how many 
things the various bodies of Christians are united 
rather than to point out the differences. The standard 
of authority used is the Bible and the final appeal 
is to its pages. 

There are twenty-four studies. 

The topics, when presented rightly, to the class, 
will be found of great and absorbing interest. Reli- 
gious discussion is always lively because it comes so 
close home to us. 

There are five leading religious questions which are 
ever with us and which demand answers. They are 
asked by all men, everywhere. The twenty-four 
chapters of this book are expansions of them. We 
have, here, fruitful ground for the sowing of the seed 
in this volume. 

The five universal questions are: First: What was 
in the beginning? Is the world self-originated? 


iil 


iv FOREWORD—REVISED EDITION 


What relation has the universe to God? Is there a 
self-conscious personal God, who created all things? 
How is He manifested? Second: How did man come 
to be? How is he a product of God’s handiwork? 
What relation does God hold to him? What is the 
image of God in man? Third: How did sin come 
into this world? What does sin do toman? Fourth: 
How is man saved, or redeemed, from sin? What is 
the important and great work of our Saviour, Jesus 
Christ, in this connection? F2fth: Is man personally 
immortal? Can he survive the death of his earthly 
body ? 

The Bible gives straight and right answers to these 
questions. Hence the benefit to be derived, from ‘‘ Bible 
Study by Doctrines,’’ is that it sends the student to 
the Scriptures for the things he most needs to know. 

Bible Study by Doctrines is one book, out of The 
Twelve Bible Study Books, by the author. Each 
volume presents a complete and different course of 
Bible study with questions upon every lesson. These 
books are used extensively in Teacher Training and 
Adult Bible Classes, The Mid-Week Church Meeting, 
Young Peoples’ Societies, Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. 
C. A. Classes, Schools, Colleges and Private Study. 

Hi. ee 
New York, N. Y. 


ee ee 
ae eS 


a eek ea al eee 


CONTENTS. 


MPEEMDL VINE EGAN Miao ie) ve hire 

THE Brine or Gop 

THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD 

THe TRINITY 

THE Deity oF CHRIST 

PO AEVODN SOPERETE Pay hes tenes oh vekg ta eal ite 
REA LLON DESL ah eee tap Bota na) iia Aire ee 
PROVIDENCE 

ORIGIN AND NATURE OF MAN 

THE Law or Gop 

SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES . 

TuE CovENANTS 

THE THREEFOLD OFFICE OF CHRIST . 
THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST 

THe HUMILIATION AND EXALTATION OF 


SUEBINTE CA an ary oc Geng od cies 


CONTENTS 


FartH 

REGENERATION 
JUSTIFICATION .. . 
SANCTIFICATION . . 
THE SCRIPTURES .. 
PRAYER ees 
Tue Harty CHuRcH 
THE FUTURE STATE OF 


THE KINGDOM oF GoD 


THE SOUL 


100 
106 
110 
115 
120 
128 
133 
139 
146 


I. 
THE DIVINE PLAN. 


THE MAIN POINTS IN A PLAN. 


There are two; an end to be accomplished and’ 
the appropriate means to be used in the accomplish- 
ment of that end. 

An architect in planning a great building not only 
takes into consideration the purpose for which it is 
to be used but also the materials and metho‘ls of con- 
struction; he uses wise economy in the adaptation of 
means to anend. God as the great architect of the 
universe certainly has a plan in the making of the 
the world and man. The Scriptures everywhere re- 
present Him as having an end in view in all that He 
does: He is the Creator and Ruler of all. There is 
nothing too great, nothing too minute to be included 
in His government. (See Lesson VII on Creation.) 


GOD’S PLAN IN THE NATURAL WORLD. 


The heavens declare the glory of God and the fir- 
mament showeth His handiwork (Ps. 19: 1.) 
There is here no disorder and no confusion; yet to 
an ignorant man who looks up at the heavens upon a 
clear night and sees them thickly studded with stars 
in infinite profusion, there seems to be no systematic 
arrangement. 


10 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


The study of nature shows a reign of law. There 
is not a leaf placed upon a giant tree or the tiniest 
plant but after a certain order; the student of these 
things can tell us beforehand, evenif he only sees the 
seed, how it will grow. The animal creation has been 
developed after a certain plan, there are a few great 
types and forms from which it does not vary; give a 
man skilled in these matters, but a single bone, and 
he will he will reconstruct the skeleton. The chemist 
is perfectly sure that acids and alkalies will act in the 
same way every time under the same conditions. All 
the “facts of nature stand in a certain relation to 
each other and will admit of no other.” No longer 
does the real seeker after truth in the natural world 
attempt to force nature into his preconceived ideas 
but he asks what are the facts and tries to discover 
the plan which these facts indicate. The astronomer 
seeks his facts in the heavens. The geologist in the 
rocks; the zoologist in animal life; the botanist in 
plant life. They study God’s thoughts after Him. 
God’s creation and control of the natural world is 
made a ground of confidence in Him. Christ spoke 
of the fowls of the air, the lilies of the field as under 
God’s care Matt. 6:26; 10:29; and if He cares 
for them how much more He thinks of us. But 
the light of nature is insufficient to show us God as 
we need to see and know Him. 

In the Bible, the material world and its phenomena 
are made secondary objects of interest to man’s 
spiritual state and needs and a supernatural reve- 


THE DIVINE PLAN 11 


lation from God. This earth is the place where 
the great problem of redemption is worked out. 


GOD’S PLAN IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. 


As God has a plan in the natural world so has He 
one in the spiritual world; a scheme of redemption; 
it is of great importance that it should be known and 
rightly apprehended. What is the relation of God to 
man and man to God? How does He look upon sin? 
What is the standard of righteousness? How can 
man be at peace with God? These and many ques- 
tions like them press for answers; they are not matters 
of idle thought but of grave consequence for what we 
determine about them makes our theology and “ our 
theology makes our religion,” and our religion rules 
our lives and conduct. 

What is the divine plan in the spiritual world and 
how can it be known? Men introduce confusion into 
this plan by setting up their own opinion as to its 
nature and workings instead of seeking the facts in 
the right quarter; it is as if an astronomer should 
seek to evolve a system of astronomy from his inner 
consciousness instead of from a study of the heavenly 
bodies. It is only through a supernatural revelation 
that we can know that God cares for man and that 
any sinner can be saved. As God has acted in the 
natural world so He acts in the spiritual world. The 
Bible is the history of the acts of God which reveal 
Him and redeem man. Christian doctrine is arrived 
at when we study and describe these acts. In this 


12 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


spiritual world so many facts are beyond the reach of 
human experience and reason, that man can be sure 
of freedom from error only through a direct revela- 
tion from God, and thatis given to us in the Scrip- 
tures. Jf we would know the plan of salvation we 
must study this Word of God. It stands in the same 
relation to the seeker after spiritual truth as the 
strata of the earth do to the geologist. In the Bible 
are contained the truths which man is to arrange and 
classify. 

1. Formally stated there have been three methods 
or attempts to find God’s plan and formulate it. (a) 
“The Speculative Method; this assumes certain 
principles and undertakes to determine from them 
what is and what must be.” He who follows this 
way exclusively will try to force Bible facts to con- 
form to his reason or preconceived notions. Here is 
a source of much trouble. (b) “The Mystical 
Method; mysticism is a matter of feeling.” He 
who adopts this method will try to make the Scrip- 
tures testify to what he feels to be true; feeling is 
placed before fact or truth. (c) “The Inductive 
Method”; this is the way in which the true scientist 
seeks for truth in the physical world; “principles are 
derived from facts and not impressed upon them; 
speculations unless sustained by facts are worthless,” 
It is unscientific for the theologian to assume a theory 
as to the nature of virtue, of sin, of liberty, of moral 
obligation, and then explain the facts of Scripture in 
accordance with his theories. His only proper course 
is to derive his theory of virtue, of sin, of liberty, of 


THE DIVINE PLAN 13 


obligation, from the facts of the Bible.” Reason and 
feeling have their proper place but they need to be 
subordinate to facts. 

2. Christ appealed to the Scriptures. Jno. 5: 
45-47. Peter in his speech on the day of Pentecost 
confined himself to the revealed Word; so did Ste- 
phen in his address, Acts 7:2-56. Paul in all his 
epistles is simply dealing with the facts of Redemp- 
tion and applying them to the different conditions 
of life with which he came in contact. 


GOD‘S PLAN IN HIS WORD. 


In the Bible we find a mass of facts concerning the 
acts and words of God, the spiritual history, nature 
and life of man, and the relations between God and 
man. We have to collect, compare and classify these 
truths according to their inner connection to evolve 
as far as possible a complete and systematic review 
of the Christian religion. 

These facts and truths have been grouped by theo- 
logians under five heads: 

1. Theology or facts and truths about God. 

The Being of God. The Attributes of God. The 
Trinity. The Divinity of Christ. The Holy Spirit. 
Creation, Providence, ete. 

2. Anthropology or facts and truths about man. 

Origin and Nature of Man. Man’s Relation to the 
Law of God. Covenants. The Fall. Sin and its 
Consequences, etc. 

3. Christology or facts and truths about Christ. 


14 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


The Person of Christ. His Work and Office. His 
Humiliation and Exaltation, etc. 

4, Soteriology or facts and truths about Salvation. 

Nature and Conditions of Salvation. (All that 
Christ does may also come in here, so that Christol- 
ogy is by some included in Soteriology.) The agen- 
cy of the Holy Spirit, Faith, Regeneration, Justifica- 
tion, Sanctification. The Means of Grace. The 
Scriptures, Prayer, The Sacraments, ete. 

5. Eschatology or facts and truths about the Last 
Things, or the great events in which the kingdom of 
God reaches its consummation. 

To these subjects may also be added that of Eccle- 
siology, or facts and truths about the Church. 

In giving the Divine Religion to man, God in His 
revealed Word has omitted no essential thing. The 
subjects treated are of the greatest importance, 
and the most profound which can engage the atten. 
tion of man; they show God’s relation to the world, 
to man, to sin, and His desire to save all that will 
come unto Him. 

Certain points stand out very clearly. (a) God is 
supreme over nature and man; in Hischaracter He is 
perfectly holy, just, good and wise. (b) Emphasis 
is placed upon the Redemption of Man. The Bible 
devotes very brief space, a single chapter to the cre- 
ation of the universe, while all the rest is given to the 
plan of salvation. From the time man sinned in 
Eden God has been calling man to repentance and 
faith. Jno. 3:16. 


THE DIVINE PLAN 15 


THE PURPOSE OF GOD’S PLAN. 


Is it the most happiness for the individual or the 
glory of God? What is the end sought? We are 
told to fear God and keep His commandments for 
this is the whole duty of man. Ecc. 12:13. Deut. 
6:2. ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God.” Matt. 
6: 19-34. Everywhere the stress is placed upon 
loving and serving God first. Evidently the Bible 
sets before us that the end or purpose sought 
is the glory of God; to seek this is to set before us 
the highest good, justice, purity and holiness in this 
world or universe. The chief end to be accomplished 
in building a great ocean steamer is not beauty, that 
is incidental, but strength and adequate power for 
her work. The cause of much misery in this world 
is that men are selfishly placing before themselves 
their own happiness and pleasure as the goal towards 
which they are to bend all their energies, no matter 
who suffers; the great work of the world has never 
been done by men with such a purpose in life. 
Christ came not todo His own will but the will of 
the Father who sent Him and to glorify Him in the 
salvation of men. The great end is attained in the 
life of every man when he becomes like Christ—for- 
gets himself and seeks to glorify God in all that he 
thinks and does. But it must not be forgotten that 
the happiness of man and the glory of God are iden- 
tical. In seeking the glory of God man is seeking 
his highest happiness. Im sending Jesus Christ to 


16 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


redeem man God shows His great desire for man’s 
welfare and happiness. John 3: 14-17. 


QUESTIONS. 


* 

What are the two chief points in every plan? What can be 
said of God’s plan in the natural world? What can be said of 
God’s plan in the spiritual world; how can this plan be known? 
What are the three methods by which men have attempted to 
find God’s plan? Did Christ appeal to the Scriptures? What 
can be said of God’s plan in His word? Name the five divi- 
sions. What is the purpose or end in God’s plan? 


II. 
THE BEING OF GOD. 


DEFINITION, 


“By Being is here meant what has real substantive 
existence.” Itis opposed to the thought of inexor- 
able fate, immutable law or blind force. God is aper- 
son. Ex. 3: 14. 

“God is a spirit infinite, eternal, and unchangeable 
«wi His being, wisdom and power, holiness, justice, 
goodness and truth.” This isthe Christian sense in 
which the word “God” is used. Jno. 4: 24. 


UNIVERSALITY OF A BELIEF IN GOD, 


1. Thereis no formal demonstration in the Bible 
of the Being of God; it is everywhere taken for 
granted. The inspired writers assume that men have 
some knowledge of God and so address them. It is 
true that it is sometimes asserted that men do not 
know God but in that case the meaning is that they 
have lost through sin the knowledge of His true na- 
cure and will. Rom. 1:19-21-81. Eph. 4:18. Gal. 
4:8. 1 Cor. 15: 34. 

2. Itis an intuction of our nature. There is a 
morallaw written on the heart, this law implies a 
lawgiver; one upon whom man is dependent. Paul 


17 


18 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


speaks of this law which is written on the heart 
(Rom, 2: 14-15) and declares that where there is no 
revelation men shall be judged by this law. There 
is no satisfactory way to account for this universal 
belief in the existence of God except that such a be- 
lief is founded in the very constitution of man. 

3, History confirms it. All nations and tribes 
have some form of religion or some belief, however 
vague, in the supernatural. Further, those peoples 
which have had the loftiest idea of God have had the 
noblest history. 


ARGUMENTS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. 


I. THE ONTOLOGICAL. 


“Tt is designed to show that the real objective ex- 
istence of God is involved in the very idea of such a 
Being.” 

Des Cartes put the argument in about this form: 
“We have the idea of an infinite perfect Being. As 
we are finite that idea could not have originated with 
us. As we are conversant only with the finite it 
could not have originated from anything around 
us. It must therefore have come from God whose 
existence is thus a necessary assumption.” 


Il, THE COSMOLOGIOAL. 


This argument has been stated as follows: “ Every 
effect must have an adequate cause. The world is an 
effect, therefore the world must have had a cause 


THE BEING OF GOD 19 


outside of itself and adequate to account for its ex- 
istence.” 

The mind of man demands a sufficient cause for all 
things. This demand can only be satisfied by a self- 
existent being who is able to produce the universe 
and its phenomena. Gen. 1: 1-31. 


III. THE TELEOLOGICAL. 


It isthe argument from “ Design.” Design sup- 
poses a designer. The world everywhere exhibits 
marks of design. Therefore the world owes its exis- 
tence to an intelligent author. The machine, the 
book, the great building must have been in the minds 
of the men who brought them into the state of use- 
fulness, strength and beauty before they were con- 
structed; much more the world with its manifold eyvi- 
dences of intelligent design must have been in the 
mind of the great Creator before it came into exist- 
ence. Jno, 1:3. 

The tendency of the best thinkers at present is to 
point out the almost irresistible argument for design 
which it presented in the history of nature as a 
whole. 


KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. 


How can we know that God enters into relations 
with us? Howcan weknow Him? We cannot form 
a mental image of Him for He is infininite and we 
are finite. We can however have aright conception 
which is not an image. ‘We can think that God 


20 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


is infinite and eternal” (See definition of God at 
the beginning of this lesson.) 

1. The Bible shows that God can be known. Ps. 
76:1. Is.11:9. Rom. 1:19, 20, 21,28. Our Lord 
teaches that eternal life consists in the knowledge of 
God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. Jno. 14: 
6-11. 

2. Man's moral nature demands it. All men have 
a conviction that they are accountable to a Superior 
Being who knows their thoughts and acts and will re- 
ward and punish accordingly. Matt. 25: 31-46. 

3. The object of revelation is to make the per- 
sonal knowledge of God possible for every man in 
Jesus Christ. 


QUESTIONS. 


What is meant by the Being of God? Give a definition of 
God. What can be said of the universality of a belief in God? 
What is the standpoint ofthe Scriptures on the subject? Is it 
an intuition of our nature? Does history confirm it? Give the 
three well-known arguments for a belief in the existence of God? 
How can we know God? 


Ii, 
THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 


DEFINITION. 


The Divine Attributes are perfections which 
belong to the eternal nature of God; they are es 
sential to our idea of a Divine Being. 

In representing the Attributes there are two ex- 
tremes to be avoided: first, the tendency to make 
God a composite being composed of various elements 
and second, to so confound them that they all mean 
the same thing. Theologians hold that the At 
tributes differ not simply in our thought of Him, nor 
that they are only different modes in which God 
reveals Himself to us, but that they represent es- 
sential elements in His very natureor being. The 
Divine Substance itself is infinite, eternal and un- 


changeable. 
CLASSIFICATION. 


There are quite a number of classifications, one of 
the best known is as follows: “God is a self- 
existent and necessary Being. It is affirmed of Him 
I. That He is a Spirit. IJ. That as such He is in- 
finite, eternal and immutable. III. That He is in- 
finite, eternal and immutable. (a) InHis Being. 
(b) In all that belongs te His intelligence, namely 

21 


22 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


in His knowledge and wisdom. (c) Im all that be- 
longs to His will, namely His power, holiness, 
justice, goodness and truth. 


THE SPIRITUALITY OF GOD. 


“God is a Spirit.” Jno. 4: 24. None of the 
attributes of matter can be said to belong to Him. 
As a Spirit, God isa person. He is self-conscious, 
intelligent and voluntary in all His actions. He is 
not only an intelligent but a moral Being Heisa 
simple and not a compound Being. Man is subject 
to change and can gain or lose knowledge, power and 
holiness, God is not subject to change in His at- 
tributes and substance. He is immutable. 

The Bible everywhere represents God as a personal 
and spiritual Being. He spoke to Adam, Noah, 
Moses, and others. He says, “I am” “that is my 
name.” “Jam the Lord your God.” He represents 
Himself as merciful and gracious. He bids men pray 
to Him. He gives the well-known form; “Our 
Father which art in heaven.” He reveals Himself as 
a spirit with whom our spirits can hold intercourse 
and as one whom we can know in this way. 


INFINITY. 


“God is infinite in being because no limit can be 
assigned to His perfections and because He is 
present everywhere.” As one has stated it: “A 
being is said to be present wherever it perceives and 
acts. As God perceives and acts everywhere, He is 
said to be everywhere present.” 


THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD 23 


1. The Infinity of God in relation to space is two- 
fold. His Immensity and Omnipresence. By God’s 
Immensity is meant that He is not bounded by the 
limitations of space. He is present everywhere and 
acts everywhere. By God’s Omnipresence is meant 
that He is equally present with all His creatures at 
all times and in all places. Eph.1: 238. Jer. 23: 24, 
Ps. 139: 7-12. Acts 17: 28. 

2. The Infinity of God in relation to time. He 
dwells in the eternal now. As He is no more in one 
portion of space than in another so “ He does not 
exist in one period of duration more than another.” 
“ He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.” 
Heb. 13: 8. Ps. 90:2; 102: 25-27. Is. 57: 15; 
44:6. 2 Pet.3:8. Rev. 1: 4. 


IMMUTABILITY. 


By this is meant that God is unchangeable in His 
substance and attributes. There can be no change 
in His power, holiness or wisdom. “ He is the Father 
of lights with whom there is no variableness neither 
shadow of turning.” Jas.1:17. Num. 23:19. Mal. 
Biber s oust, Prov. 19: 21., Is. 14: 24: 46: 
9-10. Care must be taken not to confound Immuta- 
bility with Immobility. God is unchangeable but 
He is not inactive. He is on the contrary intensely 
and perpetually active. 


KNOWLEDGE. 


God has knowledge of all things and it is intuitive 
and immutable. ‘All things are naked and opened 


24 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” 
Heb.. 4:13... Ps... 189: 12>. Psi 94:9) Par 139ed-2, 
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place be- 
holding the evil and the good.” Proy. 15: 3. Ez. 
11:5. Acts 15:18. Prov.15:11. God’s just judg- 
ments are founded upon His perfect knowledge. We 
pray to Him in faith because we believe that He 
knows what we say and understands our wants. 


WILL. 


This is the power of self-determination. It is a 
necessary attribute of God as a spirit and voluntary 
agent. fiverywhere in the Scriptures God is rep- 
resented as commanding, counseling, purposing, and 
decreeing. God does what He does by the self- 
determining power of His will. He is free to do or 
not to do. He is not acting from the necessity of 
His nature. Christians believe that the will of God 
is the final ground of moral obligation because that 
will is the expression of God’s nature and in it is re- 
vealed the demand of the infinite wisdom and good- 
ness. 

POWER. 


The Bible represents God as able to do every- 
thing He wills. Man must use means to accomplish 
his purposes, but with God means are not neces- 
sary. He wills and itisdone. Hesaid “ Let there 
be light and there was light.” Gen. 1: 3. This is 
the highest idea of power. Christ healed the sick at 
a word, Luke 13: 11-12. . Ps. 185: 6; .Tibses) 


THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD 25 


Matt. 19:26. Gen. 17:1. Jer. 32: 17. God is not 
only Creator and Preserver but Sovereign of the 
world and all creation. “Thine is the Kingdom O 
Lord and Thou art exalted as head above all.” 1 
Chr. 29:11. Is. 45:9. Matt. 20:15. This Sov. 
ereignty is absolute and immutable; “exercised in 
establishing all laws, physical and moral and in 
determining the nature and powers of the different 
orders of created beings.” 


HOLINESS. 


The root of this word Holiness is freedom from all 
impurity. God is represented in the Scriptures as 
the only being absolutely free from moral imperfec- 
tions. “ There is none Holy as the Lord.” 1 Sam. 2: 
2. The Bible represents the Holiness of God as 
an object of worship rather than His knowledge or 
mowerenoev. to: 4,0 Ps, 99:93 1119. Hab, Te 13; 


JUSTICE. 


When we regard God in His dealings with His 
rational creatures we conceive of Him as perfectly 
just. Heis a righteous ruler; all His laws are holy, 
just and good. Ps. 97: 2; 7: 11. Gen. 18: 25. 
Job 8:3. Matt. 25:31-46. But all men have vio- 
lated God’s laws and deserve punishment. How can 
anyone stand before the perfect justice of God? The 
argument in the Epistle to the Romans is to this ef- 
fect that all men are sinners, that God is just, the 
guilty cannot satisfy justice; hence in order to be 


26 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


reconciled to God the sinner must trust not in hig 
own righteousness but in Christ the righteous by 
whom God justifies and saves. 


GOODNESS. 


In the attribute of goodness is included God’s love 
to men, His mercy, benevolence and grace. This 
goodness is everywhere displayed. In nature there 
are no devices for the promotion of pain for its own 
sake. In Christ we have God’s love for sinful men 
most wonderfully set forth. Eph. 2:7. 1 Jno. 4; 
7-11. The work of redemption through Christ is in 
order that sin, the cause of so much misery, might be 
destroyed. The exaltation of God in all things, and 
not the lifting up on high of man, is the end to be 
sought for; in this exaltation alone can the supreme 
goodness be manifested. For the glory of God is the 
highest happiness of man, 


TRUTH. 


The truth is that which can be relied upu». We 
believe God to be true because He is really that 
which He has announced Himself to be. He is 
faithful and immutable, we can rely upon His Word. 
His Word can never fail though heaven and earth pass 
away. “The truth of God is therefore the founda- 
tion of all religion.” We learn to place implicit confi- 
dence in God’s laws revealed in nature ; season follows 
season in regular order and effect comes after cause, 
we may also rely with perfect trust in God's Word re- 
vealed to us in the Scriptures. 


THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD 27 
QUESTIONS. 


Give a definition of the attributes, what extremes are to be 
avoided? How may the attributes be classified? What is meant 
by the Spirituality of God? fhe Infinity? Immutability? 
Knowledge? Will? Power? Holiness? Justice? Goodness? 
Truth? 


IV, 
THE TRINITY 


INTRODUCTORY. 


There are three forms or aspects under which this 
doctrine has been treated. (a) The Biblical or what 
the Scriptures have to tell us. (b) The Church or 
the expressions of councils and ecclesiastical bodies, 
and (c) The Philosophical or the efforts which 
have been made to explain it on philosophical prin- 
ciples. 


THE BIBLICAL FORM. 


We have space only to consider this the most essen- 
tial form of the doctrine of the Trinity. This is not 
a speculative or abstract thought given to us as some- 
thing upon which to exercise our ingenuity but a 
practical doctrine revealed for the purpose of a more 
full knowledge of the Divine Being and the means of 
our salvation. We believe in a Divine Creator, a 
Divine Redeemer, and a Divine Sanctifier. They and 
their acts are bound up with our deepest religious 
convictions. 


THE SCRIPTURES TEACH THE UNITY OF GOD. 


The Bible asserts: There is one God (Deut. 6: 4) 
and besides Him there is no god. Is.42:8; 44:6. It 
2 


THE TRINITY 29 


epposes the thought of many gods. “Thou shalt have 
no other gods before me,” (Ex. 20: 3) andthe idea of 
no god. “The fool hath said in his heart there is 
no God.” Ps. 53: 1. 

Yet we find that while the unity of the Divine 
Being is maintained, the name of God in the Book 
of Genesis at the very beginning of the Revelation is 
in the plural form and the personal pronouns are in 
the first person plural, ‘“ Let us make man in our 
image, after owr likeness.” Gen. 1:26. In the Old 
Testament a distinction is made between Jehovah 
and the angel of Jehovah; yet to each is given divine 
worship. The angel of Jehovah (Ex. 3: 2-5, Jos. 
5: 13-15) is believed to be the Divine Son of God. 
The Spirit of God (The Holy Spirit) in Genesis 
(1: 2) is described as moving upon the face of the 
waters. Among the last words of Jesus was the com- 
mand to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and 
the Holy Ghost. Matt. 28:19. As revelation ad- 
vances this doctrine of the Trinity becomes clearer. 
The work of the Father, the work of the Son, and the 
work of the Holy Spirit is more and more plain and 
distinct; See Jno. 14th chapter; yet the unity of 
the Godhead is everywhere upheld. 


DIVINE TITLES ARE GIVEN TO THE FATHER, SON, 
AND HOLY SPIRIT. 


Divine worship is rendered to each. Many pas- 
sages might be quoted to show that severally they are 
the objects of love and adoration. The Father is di- 


30 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


vine. Gen. 17: 1. Ex.6:1-3. The Son is divine. 
Jno. 1: 1-4. Col.1:16. Rom.9:5. And the Holy 
Spirit is divine. Heb.9: 14. Ps. 189: 7-12. Jno, 
14: 26; 15:26; 16: 7-15. Acts 2: 4. 


ACTS OF DIVINE POWER ARE ASCRIBED TO THE 
FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT. 


They are declared in the Scriptures to possess the 
same substance and to have the same attributes, to 
be equal in power and glory. (See lessons upon The 
Attributes of God, The Deity of Christ, The Holy 
Spirit and the proof texts in connection with these 
lessons.) ‘To each is ascribed the act of the creation 


of the world. Gen. 1:1-2. Ps. 33:6. Col. 1: 13-17. 
PERSONALITY. 


The distinct personality of the Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit is revealed. The Father say “I” the 
Son says “I” the Holy Spirit says “I.” This is 
made so plain that no proof texts need be quoted. 
The persons in the Godhead are not different rela- 
tions or modes of operations but persons. God the 
Father is specially prominent in the Old Testament. 
He promises through the prophets to send Christ as 
Messiah. The Son is specially prominent in the 
four Gospels. He does His wonderful work on earth 
for the redemption of man and departing promises to 
send the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is specially 
prominent in the Acts. He is referred to about fifty 
times. The disciples by the command of Christ wait 


THE TRINITY 31 


for His appearing at Jerusalem. When He came, 
then came the Pentecost, and the grand work has 
been going on ever since that time. 

ORDER OF PRECEDENCE. 

While the Divine Being subsists in three persons 
and there is an equality in power and glory yet it is 
no less plain that the Father is first, the Son second 
and the Holy Spirit third. “There are certain acts 
and conditions predicated of one person of the Trinity 
that are never predicated of the others. Thus genera- 
tion belongs exclusively to the Father, filiation to the 
Son and procession to the Spirit.” Further: There 
are certain acts which are predominately referred to 
the Father, others to the Son, others to the Spirit. 
The Father creates, elects and calls; the Son redeems; 
and the Spirit sanctifies. 

Nore—For proof tex ts on the doctrine of the Trinity see Sub- 


ject Index in Teacher’s Bible under the titles of God the Fa‘her, 
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 


QUESTIONS. 


What are the three forms under wkich the doctrine of the 
Trinity has been treated? What can be said specially of the 
Biblical form? What do the Scriptures teach about the unity of 
God? The divine titles givento the Father, Son and Holy 
Spirit? The Acts of Divine Powers? The Personality and the 
Order of Precedence in the Persons of the Trinity? 


Vi: 
THE DEITY OF CHRIST. 


The evidences for the Deity of Christ are so many 
that only a few, and those most commonly set forth, 
can be considered in the space allotted to this lesson. 

“The orthodox doctrine on this subject is that from 
eternity Jesus Christ has existed as the co-equal of 
and the Son of the Father, constituted of the same 
infinite self-existent essence with the Father and the 
Holy Ghost.” 


THE EVIDENCE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 


The writings of the Old Testament are divided into 
Poetic, Prophetic, Didactic and Historical; in each 
we find the evidence clear, strong and _ positive. 
Christ Himself said (Luke 24: 25-27, 44) “All 
things must be fulfilled which were written in the 
law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms 
concerning me.” 

1. The Historical books prepare for and point 
towards Him. The rites and ceremonies of the 
Levitical economy are comparatively meaningless 
until Christ is set in the midst of them. 

2. The Psalms and Prophetical books are dark 
and full of mystery until the light for the darkness 
and the key to the mystery are found in Him. 

3. <A few selected passages (out of many) which 
refer to Christ in the Old Testament, 

82 


THE DEITY OF CHRIST 33 


(a) Christ the Messiah declared to be the Son of 
God. The second Psalm asserts that He is the Son 
of God and as such will receive power over the whole 
earth. 

(b) The Messiah is called God and His throne 
eternal, Ps. 45. Compare with Heb. 1: 8, 9. 

(c) The Messiah the Mighty God and Everlasting 
Father. Is. 9: 6. Compare Matt. 4: 14-16. 

(d) Declared to be from everlasting. (His birth- 
place,) Mic. 5: 2. Compare Matt. 2: 6. 

(e) His birthplace foretold and that as Jehovah 
He should suddenly come to His temple, and that 
His messenger should precede Him. Mal. 3: 1, 2. 
Compare Mark 1: 2. 

(f{) Seed of Abraham. Gen. 12: 3; 18: 18; 22: 18. 

(zg) House of David. Ps. 89: 4-36. 

(h) Suffering and Passion. Ps. 22: 1-8. Is. 53: 
1-12. Dan. 9: 26. Zech. 13: 6, 7. 

(i) Death on the cross. Ps. 16: 10; 22: 16. 
Is. 58: 8, 9. 

(j) Resurrection. Ps, 16: 10. 

(k) Redeemer and Intercessor. Job 19: 25-27. 
Is. 41, 14; 44: 6; 47: 4; 59: 20; 62: 11; 63:1. Jer. 50: 
34. Is. 53: 12. 

(1) The Messiah, Christ, the King of Israel. 
1 Sam. 2:10. Ps. 2: 2; 45: 1-6. Is. 61:1. 

(m) In the Old Testament Christ is called by 
many titles which show that He was regarded as God. 
The subject of the Messianic kingdom and king isa 
constant theme with all the prophets. 


84 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


Note—For anexhaustive summary of the hundreds of passages 
of the Old Testament quoted or alluded to in the New Testament 
and the many texts specially relating to Christ, see Bagster’s 
Bible and 8. 8. Teacher’s Edition of Oxford Bible. 


THE EVIDENCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 


The prophecies and references to Christ in the Old 
Testament which are expressly cited in the New 
number three hundred and thirty-three. The title. 
“The Son of God,” is applied to Christ twenty-five 
times in the four gospels. 

1. The preexistence of Christ. (a) Creator of 
the world, Jno.1:3. Col. 1: 15-18. (b) With the 
Father before the world. Jno. 1:1; 6: 62; 8: 58; 17: 
5; 2 Cor. 8: 9. (c) He came down from heaven. 
Jno. 3: 13; 13: 8; 16: 28. 1 Cor. 15: 47. 

2. Divine Titles given to Him. Rom. 9: 5. 
“The word was God.” Jno. 1:1. ‘My Lord and 
my God.” Jno. 20: 28. ‘“ Who is over all, God 
blessed forever.” Rom. 9:5, ‘God was manifest 
in the flesh.” 1 Tim. 3:16. “ But unto the Son He 
saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.” Heb. 
1:8. ‘This isthe true God.” 1 Jno. 5: 20. 

3. Divine Attributes ascribed to Him. (a) 
Eternity. Jno. 1: 2. (b) Unchangeableness. 
Heb. 1: 11. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, 
to-day and forever.” Heb. 13: 8. (c) Everywhere 
present. Jno. 3:13. Matt. 18: 20. “Iam with you 
alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matt. 28: 
20. (d) Perfect knowledge of God and man. “ All 
things are delivered unto me by my Father.” Matt. 
11; 27. Jno. 2: 23-25. (e) All powerful. “ Up- 


THE DEITY OF CHRIST 35 


holding all things by the word of His power.” Heb. 
1:3. “lam the Alpha and Omega, the beginning 
and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which 
was and which is tocome, the Almighty.” Rey. 1:8. 

4, Divine works wrought by Christ. (a) Crea- 
tion. Jno. 1: 3-10. “All things were made by 
Him.” Col. 1: 16,17. “ For by Him were all things 
created.” (b) Upholds allthings. ‘ Upholding all 
things by the word of His power.” Heb. 1: 3. (c) 
Miracles. (d) Judgment. Matt. 25: 31, 32. “ Be- 
fore Him shall be gathered all nations.” 

5. Supreme worship to be paid to Christ. Matt. 
28: 19. ‘All men should honor the Son even as 
they honor the Father.” Jno. 5:23; Jno. 14: 1. 
Acts 7: 59-60. 1 Cor.1:2. 2 Cor.138: 14. Rev. 1:5, 6. 

6. He proved Himself to be Lord of all. (a) 
Master of men and of thought. There is a divinity 
and authority in His sayings which are not in those 
of any other man. The most learned judge takes 
time to consider a hard question. Christ instantly 
answered the most difficult questions put to Him, 
and so answered them that they were settled for all 
time. 

(b) All power over disease. . Physicians are glad 
if they can heal the sick after many weary days, but 
when Christ healed, it was with a word or touch and 
the cure was complete at once. 

(c) All Power over Nature. When a storm arises 
on sea or shore, it will run its course for all man can 
say; but Jesus spoke to the tumultuous waves on the 
sea of Galilee and there was a great and instant calm; 


36 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


the few loaves and fishes multiplied in His hands and 
became food for the thousands who thronged Him in 
a desert place. 

(d) Raiser of the dead. Men have been able to 
heal the sick but not to raise the dead. Jesus with a 
word bade the dead arise. Lazarus had been four 
days dead yet he obeyed the voice of the Master and 
came forth from the tomb. 

(e) The Forgiver of sins. Only God can forgive 
sins yet Jesus said to those who stood around the 
bed of the man sick with the palsy, “That ye may 
know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to 
forgive sins, I say unto thee, arise.” 

(f) He rose from the dead. For forty days after 
He came forth from the tomb He gave every oppor- 
tunity for tests of the reality of His resurrection. 

7. Jesus was possessed not only of a divine but a 
uuman nature. Son of God and Son of Man. 

(a) “There are no narrow limits to His individ- 
uality.” Men become bound up and absorbed in 
their occupations. The instant that a name is sug- 
gested, we think of an occupation. Jesus was a car- 
penter, philosopher, teacher, preacher, worker of mir- 
acles, God over all, and yet so perfect in His human- 
ity that He stands out as the generic man of all time, 
fully in sympathy with men of all occupations and 
professions. (b) He is not limited by His nation- 
ality. We think of Washington as an American, 
Napoleon as a Frenchman, Nelson as an Englishman, 
Peter the Great as a Russian, Socrates as an Athe- 
nian, Cicero ag a Roman. Christ was born a Jew, vet 


THE DEITY OF CHRIST 87 


we never think of Him asa Jew. He is to every one 
as the Son of Man, belonging to all nations. 

8. The testimony of Christ Himself. Jesus de- 
clared Himself to be the Son of God; He claimed 
equality with God, and that His thoughts and actions 
were the same as those of the Father; He demanded 
honor the same as the Father. Jno. 5: 18-23. He 
said, “land my Father are one.” Jno. 10: 30. At 
His trial He asserted in answer to the High Priest’s 
question that He was Christ the Son of God. Matt. 
26: 63-66. He affirmed His preexistence, and that 
He had glory with the Father before the world was, 
(Jno. 17:5) and that whoever had seen Him had seen 
the Father. Jno, 14: 9. 


QUESTIONS. 


What is the orthodox doctrine on the subject of the Deity 
of Christ? What is the evidence of the Old Testament? What 
is the relation of the historical books to this subject; the rites 
and ceremonies of the Levitical economy? Where is Christ de- 
clared to be the Son of God; God; Mighty God? to be from ever- 
lasting; birthplace foretold? What is the evidence of the New 
Testament? How many prophecies and references to Christ in 
the Old Testament are quoted in the New? How many times is 
the title “Son of God” applied to Christ in the four gospels? 
What proof is there of the preexistence of Christ? What di- 
vine titles are given to Him; divine attributes ascribed to Him; 
divine works wrought by Him; supreme worship paid to Him? 
How is He proved to be Lord of all? What was the testimony 
of Christ Himself? Give Scripture references. 


VI. 
THE HOLY SPIRIT. 


NAME. 


The Holy Spirit is called by various names in the 
Scriptures: “The Spirit.” “The Spirit of God.” 
“The Holy Ghost.” “My Spirit.” “His Spirit.” 
“The Comforter.” His work is everywhere manifest 
in the Bible. In the New Testament alone there are 
about three hundred references to Him. ‘He is 
called the Holy Spirit to indicate both His nature 
and His operations.” ‘“ He is an immaterial being, 
pure and holy in His nature.” “He is generally re- 
garded as the executive of the Godhead, whatever 
God does, He does by His Spirit. He is the third 
person of the Trinity. 


NATURE. 


1. Hevs personal. He is not a mere agency or 
force through which God the Father works but has 
adistinct personality of His own. In a person we have 
an individual substance, an intelligence and a will. 
Christ speaks of the Comforter as a person, as one 
who shall teach all things, who will testify of Him. 
Jno. 14: 26; 15: 26-27. 1 Cor. 2: 10-12. In Acts 
13: 2 the Holy Ghost is represented as speaking, di- 

38 


THE HOLY SPIRIT 89 


recting the work of the early church and appointing 
missionaries. He says: ‘Separate me Barnabas and 
Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” 
Numerous instances might also be cited from the 
Old Testament to show personal activity of the 
Spirit. 

2. He is divine. The attributes of God are 
ascribed tothe Spirit. Eternity. He is called the 
Eternal Spirit. Heb. 9:14. (a) Omnipresence. He 
is everywhere present. The Psalmist says “ Whither 
shall I go from Thy Spirit and whither shall I flee ~ 
from Thy presence.” Ps. 159: 7-12. (b) Omnis- 
cience. He knows all things. ‘The Spirit search- 
eth all things, yea the deep things of God.” 1 Cor. 
2:10, 11. (c) He is one with the Father and Son. 
He is associated with them in the formulas of Bap- 
tism and Benediction. The church has always re- 
garded Him as divine. As He isdivine, He is an ob- 
ject of worship. “ We pray to the Spirit for the 
communication of Himself to us, that He may ac- 
cording to the promise of our Lord, dwell in us; as 
we pray to Christ that we may be the objects of His 
unmerited love. 


OFFICE AND WORK. 


1. Relation to God the Father and God the Son, 
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. 
The doctrine of the church is set forth in the Bible. 
While the spirit is equal in glory and the same in 
substance, He is subordinate as to mode of subsist- 
ence and operation to the Father and Son. He 


40 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


proceeds from them and they work through Him. 

2. Relation to the written Word. He reveals 
divine truth. In the Old Testament it is plainly 
stated that the prophets were the organs of the 
Holy Spirit. Mic. 3:8. “They spake as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost.” The same condition 
prevails in the New Testament. 1 Cor, 2: 12-13. 

3. Relation to the material world. The Spirit is 
here the source of life. When He brooded over the 
waters chaos was reduced to order. Gen. 1:2. Mat- 
ter does nor have life in itself: If the spirit which 
gave it life is withdrawn itdies. The Psalmist speak- 
ing of created living things says, “Thou hidest Thy 
face they are troubled: Thou takest away their breath 
they die and return to dust. Thou sendest forth Thy 
Spirit they are created, and Thou renewest the face of 
the earth.” Ps. 104: 29,80. 

4, Relationto man. (a) The Spirit gives men- 
tal power and fits men for special work. Moses 
stands as one of the wisest and greatest men. He 
did his great work and the elders with him through 
the spirit of God. Num.11:17. Saul lost his power 
to govern his kingdom when the Spirit of the Lord 
departed from him. David became what he was 
through the Spirit of the Lord. 1 Sam. 16:18. 
The Spirit raised the humble fisherman of the Lake 
of Galilee from their lowly occupation to be the 
world’s teachers. Acts 1:8; 2:1-4. (b) The Holy 
Ghost is the source of spiritual power. In what is 
called Common Grace the Spirit works continually 
upon the hearts of all men. Whatever there is of 


TARE HOLY SPIRIT 41 


truth and morality in the world is due to Him. 

The special work of the Spirit is to convince men of 
sin, to convict their consciences, to enable them to 
see the wrong they are doing themselves and God in 
continuing in sin. He regenerates the souls of men 


when they repent. Jno. 16: 7-15. 

“He dwells in those whom He thus renews as a 
principle of a new and divine life.” Believers are 
thus united with God the Father and Christ the Son, 
and made one. They enter into communion with 
God and with each other. In the 14th chapter of 
John, Christ describes very fully this work of the 
Spirit. The Holy Ghost also directs the work of the 
church. We are living under His dispensation. 


QUESTIONS. 


By what names is the Holy Spirit called? Why is He called 
the Holy Spirit? What can be said of His nature? Personality? 
Divinity? Whatcan be said of His office and work? Relations 
to the Father and Son, and the world, and to man? 


VIL. 
CREATION. 


INTRODUCTION. 


“We are placed in the midst of a vast universe of 
which we form a part. We are forced not merely by 
a desire for knowledge but from the necessities of our 
nature to ask, whence did it come? What are wer 
Whither are we going? ‘To refer everything tochance 
is no solution. To refer everything to necessity is 
no solution.” The Bible does not hesitate to grapple 
with these great questions and treats them soas tocom- 
mand the attention and interest of all peoples through 
all time. The difficulty in the human solution of 
the problem of the origin of creation is that it lies be- 
yond the sphere of reason and experience. The scrip- 
tural statements have often to contend not with facts 
but theories and just here is where much of the 
trouble arises. Anyone can advance a theory which 
may stand until a better or more ingenious one is put 


forth. 
ORIGIN OF CREATION. 


1. Theories. Outside the Bible which ascribes to 
God the beginning of all things there are two main 
theories by which men attempt to account for the 
phenomena of the universe and the world. 

42 


CREATION 43 


(a) Matter alone it is asserted accounts for all 
things, mind is excluded. Matter and the resident 
- forces in it are sufficient to produce al] that we note 
in the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms. 

(b) Matter and mind together are said to be the 
cause of all things. But mind can exist only in con- 
nection with matter. Apart from it, it has no exist- 
ence. 

The serious objection to both these theores is that 
they fail to account for the origin of matterand mind. 
The real question at issue is, how did matter and 
mind come to exist? 

2. The Scriptural view. The Scriptures take 
their stand at aplace where human experience and 
reason fail to get a foothold. 

The Bible asserts (a) There was a time when mat- 
ter did not exist. (The heavens and the world were 
not inbeing.) (b) God created the heavens and the 
earth out of nothing. (c) Creation was not from any 
necessity but by God’s will or His good pleasure. 

That is “God was not under any mental or metaphys- 
ical necessity to create the world.” Gen. 1:1. Neh. 9: 
Oretee oo. On Col. 1:16, 17). Heb, 11:8) » Rey: 4:11 
The Bible always represents God apart from the world 
and not identified with it. He is its Creator and 
Preserver. Ps. 33: 6; 89: 11. Is. 45: 8. Jer.10: 
12. Zech. 12:1. Acts17: 24. Col. 1:17. Heb. 1: 10. 

3. Hirst and second causes in Creation. 

Without a Divine Revelation we should not have 
any light upon thesolution of the problem of the first 
great cause of the origin of the heavens and the earth. 


44 RIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


Theologians have however, always held that there 
was a distinction between the first cause and second- 
ary causes in creation or as it is sometimes stated ‘im- 
mediate and mediate creation. ” It is asserted that while 
God is the maker of all things that He also works 
through and in union with secondary causes and that 
there is a mediate and progressive creation. The first 
chapter of Genesis is an account of the orderly pro- 
gress of creation. There is a development from the 


less to the greater; from the simple to the more com- 
plex. 


THE REASON FOR CREATION, 


It is manifestly impossible to find a final reason for 
creation through nature or nature’s laws for but few 
comparatively of the facts are known from which a 
conclusion can be reached. Man has only in recent 
times begun a systematic study of the earth and the 
heavens. New facts are constantly being made known; 
new discoveries in nature’s vast laboratory are coming 
to light; new interpretations of old phenomena are 
daily set before us. Everything is changing. Men 
in pursuit of the truth desire the whole truth and go 
where the truth leads. There is still very much undis- 
covered country, 

It is quite certain that if we are to get light on 
this subject of the cause of creation we must get it 
from the Scriptures. In Ps, 19:1 we are told that 
“The heavens declare the glory of God.” In Rey. 4: 
2 itis said, “Thou are worthy O Lord to receive 
glory and honor and power; Thou hast created all 


CREATION 45 


things and for Thy pleasure they are and were cre- 
ated.” In Col. 1: 16, it is declared “All things were 
created by Him and for Him.” God is His own end 
in creation. It is for the glory of the Creator all 
things were created. Yet in saying this it is mani- 
fest that the highest interests of man are bound up 
in the glory of the Creator. The glory of God “is 
the source of all holiness and all blessedness to ra- 
tional creatures.” In the creation and salvation of 
man it is very evident from many Scripture state- 
ments that God cares more for the welfare and hap- 
piness of man here and hereafter than man himself. 
dnowl5:13; 10: 11. 


THE MOSAIO ACCOUNT OF CREATION. 


1. The Religious Aspect. The first chapter of 
Genesis is unique in all literature for its form and 
teaching. The radical religious teaching of this chap- 
ter is seen when it is noted how it strikes at the very 
life of the old worship of many gods, so called sacred 
animals, the sun, the moon and the stars. It pro- 
claims one God. It teaches the non eternity of 
matter and that the heavens and the earth had 
a beginning. It sets forth the fact that God 
brought into existence the sun, moon and stars 
and the animal creation. They are created things 
and are not therefore proper objects of worship. 
God over all, creating all, caring for all, is the 
only being to whom divine homage should be given. 
The Bible is essentially religious in its teaching and 
many in their anxiety to seek other things miss this 


46 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


great revelation of one God, the creator and ruler of 
all. 

2. Scientific Aspect. A secondary interest in this 
Mosaic account is the scientific. How much the an- 
cients knew about the earth and the heavens it is im- 
possible now to say, but that they knew much more 
than we commonly give them credit is quite certain. 
It is declared in the ancient book of Job (26: 7) 
that our earth is an air-ship and that the air (Job 28: 
25) has weight. The Chaldeans had at a very early 
period ascertained the principal circles of the sphere, 
the position of the poles, etc. If we look at the Mo- 
saic account of the creation in outline and take it in 
its broad features; it is surprising in how many ways 
it agrees with the present scientific outlook. This 
first chapter of Genesis declares with science: There 
were; (a) a Begininning to the heavens and the 
earth. No time is set for that beginning. (b) A 
formless void. (c) Light before the creation of 
suns or stars. (d) The order of the origin of 
things was first the mineral kingdom; second the 
vegetable; and third theanimal. (e) Days, science 
says periods. (f) Order, progression from the low- 
er to the higher forms, from the simple to the more 
complex. Finally we are told that earthly creation 
closed with man. 

From this time, on, the Biblical narrative is con- 
cerned with man’s relations to God; how man sins, 
how he repents and how he is redeemed. The interest 
is now supremely religious. 

The following diagram was made, by an eminent 
scientific man, to show the creative progress in Genesis. 


CREATION 47 


CREATION. 
1 day. Light 4 day. Sun and Moon ) 
_j2 “ Firmament |} 5 day. Fish and Fowl 4 
Inorganic) g “ Dry Land | 6 day. Animals f Organic 
Grass Man J 


7 day. Sabbath Rest. 


QUESTIONS. 


State the problems involved in the introduction. Give the 
two theories which attempt to account for the phenomena of the 
earth and the universe. Whatis the real objection to them? 
What is the Scriptural view? What is meant by first and second 
causesin creation? State the reason for creation. What can be 
said of the Mosaic account of creation? Give the religious and 
scientific aspects. 


VIIL. 
PROVIDENCE. 


THE NATURE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE, 


“This term, in its widest application, signifies the 
Divine Presence in the world as sustaining, control- 
ling, and guiding to their destination all things that 
are made. The will of God determines the end for 
which His creatures exist. His wisdom and His 
goodness appoint the means by which that end is at- 
tained, such as the conservation of the frame of na- 
ture, the care of all His creatures that have wants, 
the government especially of intelligent and pro- 
bationary beings: His power ensures the accomplish- 
ment of every design.” 

1. This Providence is universal. The Scriptures 
clearly assert that God keeps in being and governs 
all. He is represented not merely as the Creator, 
as one who has brought into being the universe and 
then becomes a spectator of what has been done but 
as the Presever and Governer. God takes an active 
part. “By Him all things consist.” Col. 1: 17. 
“Thou even Thou art Lord alone; Thou hast made 
heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, 
the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas 
and all that are therein, and Thou preservest them 
all. Neh. 9:6. Heb.1: 3. Ps. 104. 

48 


PROVIDENCE 49 


This Providence extends over (a) nature and na- 
ture’s laws. Matt10:29. Acts 14:17. Job 8:4-10; 
38: 25-40. “Behold the fowls of the air; for they 
sow not neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; 
yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.” Matt 6: 26, 
Ps. 104: 21. Acts 17: 25. 

(b) Nations, all nations are in His hands and He 
rules over them. ‘‘ He removeth kings and setteth up 
kings.” Dan. 2:21. “The most high ruleth in the 
kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever He 
will.” Dan. 4: 24-25; 4:35. Ps. 66: 7. Wehavea 
striking example of God’s providential care in the 
history of the Israelites. 

(c) Persons. That God’s care extends to persons 
is very evident. God loves men and desires to save 
them. The work of Christ is the best proof. 

2. Twowrong theories of providence. (a) That 
which ascribes all efficiency to God and really makes 
him the only being in the universe. Hence human 
liberty is destroyed and God is made the author of 
sin. (b) That which does not admit of God in the 
universe and denies that He governsthe world. This 
banishes all religion; for we have then no God to 
whom we can look up or pray. 

3. The right view. The Bible teaches the fact of 
an infinitely wise, good and powerful God controlling 
all things in a way perfectly consistent with the 
nature of His creatures and His own infinite excel- 
lence; “so that everything is made to subserve His 
wise and benevolent designs.” 

4, Twofold nature of providence. 


50 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


Preservation and government. 
PRESERVATION. 


This is distinct from creation and is not continuous 
creation. Preservation is the continuing in existence 
what has already been called into existence. The 
Scriptures clearly distinguish between the acts of 
creation, preservation and government. It is plainly 
set forth that all things depend for their continuance 
in being upon God. If He ceases to sustain them or 
withdraws His upholding power they no longer exist. 
Ps. 104: 29. The Universe does not continue in 
being of itself; plants, animals, men, have no inherent 
principle of life which enables them to exist inde- 
pendently of God but they all depend upon His will. 
As He created all things so He preserves all things. 
We donot know how this is done any more than we 
know how creation was accomplished. That God up- 
holds in life and continually cares for men is made a 
ground of great comfort and joy to those who trust 
in Him. See the twenty-third Psalm. 


GOVERNMENT. 


In the creation of the universe God must have had 
some great end in view. In order to accomplish that 
end He must necessarily control the sequences which 
lead up to it or He will fail of His purpose. The 
Scriptures everywhere represent God as governing all 
things. 

1. His Government is all-powerful. This govern- 
ment extends over the material world. “The winds 


PROVIDENCE 51 


and the waves obey His will.” ‘ Who hath measured 
the waters in the hollow of His hand and meted out 
heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of 
the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains 
in scales and the hills in a balance.” Is. 40: 12, 
15. Christ was the master of the material world. 
He multiplied loaves and fishes. He stilled the 
storm on the lake of Galilee. He was the Lord of 
nature. There is nothing too great, nothing too 
minute to be included in the government of God. 

2. Itis all-ewise. The more the universe becomes 
an object of study the more clearly is it seen that 
means are adapted to ends; everything exhibits evi- 
dence of a supervising intelligence. 

3. Jtismoral. One of the first lessons taught the 
Isreaelites was that ‘“‘Godis Holy.” All men have a 
sense of responsibility; a conviction that what they 
say or do hasa moral quality. There is a universal 
belief in a hereafter; all systems of religion teach that 
there is a place of punishment for the evil-doer and a 
place of reward for one who does well. Christ pre- 
dicted a general judgment where all nations should 
be gathered to be judged for deeds done in the body. 
Matt. 25: 31-46. 

4. A strong proof of God’s government is derived 
from the predictions and promises recorded in the 
Scriptures. Many prophecies have been literally 
fulfilled; unless God as the Supreme Ruler had so 
governed events as to ensure their fulfilment, they 
would have failed. Again, unless God is head over all 
He could make no promises to us to keep and save us, 


52 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


QUESTIONS. 


What is the nature of divine providence? Is this providence 
universal? Does it extend over nations and persons? Give the 
contents of the two main wrong theories. What is the right 
view? What is perservation? What is meant by God’s govern- 
ment? How far does it extend? What can be said of its wis- 
dom, its morality? What is a strong proof that God governs 
the world? 


EX: 
ORIGIN AND NATURE OF MAN. 


ORIGIN OF MAN. 


This is one of the great questions which has been 
discussed by all peoples in all ages. Every effort 
has been made in ancient and modern times to 
eather facts which would throw light uponit. The 
theories advanced to account for the beginning of 
man on the earth have been legion; new ones are 
coming up every day. If we should be able to 
adjust the Bible account with the last we should at 
once have to do the work over again to account for 
some new theory now held in the hands of to-morrow. 

1. The Scriptures teach that “man is a created 
spirit in vital union with a material organized body.” 
We read in Genesis (2:7) that “The Lord God 
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed 
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became 
a living soul.” Here are two distinct substances or 
principles “one material, the other immaterial.” 
They are different from each other. They are not 
identical, the soul is not material nor the body 
spiritual. How the union is made we do not know; 
the soul acts upon the body and the body acts upon 
the soul; but when the soul leaves the body the body 


dies. 
53 


54 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINE 


2. The body bears the image of the earthly. It 
is bone of bone, muscle of muscle, nerve of nerve of 
the animal creation. It has the brute passions. In 
physical power it is outranked by many animals; its 
strength and longevity are paltry compared to many 
members of the brute creation. The Bible every- 
where asserts that the body is something apart from 
the soul. It speaks of it as “a garment ” “a tab- 
ernacle ” which man puts on or in which he dwells. 
-Itis earthy and returns to the dust whence it came. 
2 Cor. 5:1.. Ecc. 12: 7. Matt. 6: 25., etc. 

3. The soul has a reality not derived from the 
body; it is a distinct substance. In the history of 
discussions on the subject three theories have been 
advanced to account for the soul. (1) That of pre- 
existence. (2) Traduction, or the child derives its 
soul from the soul of its parents. (3) Creation, or 
that the soul is immaterial and indivisible, a spirit 
which comes direct from the hand of God. This 
spirit does not die but is immortal. In the Old 
Testament, God is not the God of the dead but of 
the living. Paulin 1 Cor. 15: 35-54 advances an 
elaborate explanation and argument in regard to the 
relation of the body and soul in their relation to the 
resurrection. 

The first theory (pre-existence) is denied. The ten- 
dency now is to admit that the elements of the soul 
are derived from the parents; but that the spiritual 
life comes from God. 

4, Manmade inthe “image of God” (Gen. 1: 26) 
was certainly not made in His bodily image for God 


ORIGIN AND NATURE OF MAN 55 


is a spirit (John 4: 24) he must therefore have been 
made in His spiritual image and in the likeness of 
His intellectual and moral being. We find that it is 
in the intellectual and moral qualities that man is 
the superior of all the brute creation and in and 
through these becomes master of the forces of nature 
and makes them do his bidding. Again in and 
through these endowments he is a responsible being 
and can hold communion with God. 


UNITY OF THE RACE, 


This problem is by no means an easy one even to 
those who have in mind all the facts that have so far 
been brought to light. Scientific men are not agreed 
among themselves. Some hold that while all men 
may be of the same species they may not all have 
descended from Adam. But that all men are of the 
same species seems quite well settled. A full dis- 
cussion of the subject would require volumes, 

The Bible claims that all men are of one blood 
and of the same order of creation and hence contends 
for the unity of the race. Acts 17: 26. Christ died 
for all men. We are to preach the gospel to all 
nations and peoples. Matt. 28: 19. Wherever we 
find men they seem to uphold the Bible claim. (a) 
They have the same bony structure, the same 
number of bones in the skeleton. (b) In their psy- 
chological nature these are the same, they exhibit the 
same characteristics. (c) The peculiarities which 
we see may be referable to climate, diet and environ- 
ment. (d)Common origin of language. One emi- 


56 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


nent scientist has said: ‘The comparative study of 
languages shows us that races now separated by vast 
tracts of land are allied together and have migrated 
from one common ancestral seat.” In a number of 
cases where naturalists have claimed a different ori- 
gin for different races a carefulstudy of the languages 
spoken has shown them to be derived from the same 
stock. In the philosophy of universal history Bun- 
sen shows that the Asiatic origin of all the North 
American Indians is as fully proved as the unity of 
family among themselves. (e) The universal ca- 
pacity of man for religious experience. 

It is certain that all men have the same faculties 
and understanding, reason, conscience, will, instincts, 
feelings; they have guilty natures and all need re- 
demption. They have a capacity for religious in- 
struction and culture. As all have sinned they all 
need Christ who came to offer Himself a redeemer for 
all men. 


FIRST STATE OF MAN. 


Was the first man savage or civilized? Did he 
start from a low or high plane of intelligence? What 
was his first state? Many shrewd guesses have been 
made, it is difficult to get at the facts. It is easy to 
construct a theory. Evolutionary science, while by 
some supposed to overturn the Genesis’ account of 
man’s origin, has not yet been able to present us with 
a picture of the condition of man when he passed 
out of the purely animal stage into the possession of 
reason, conscience and religion. The prophetic his- 


ORIGIN AND NATURE OF MAN 57 


tory in the book of Genesis simply professes to de- 
scribe him at that stage in the view of some. 

1. The Scriptures claim for man that he started 
from a comparatively high plane of intelligence, we 
do not say civilization as we understand it, but in- 
telligence. The first man Adam had certain marked 
characteristics. (a) He had reason, intelligence and 
a moral sense; for he was capable of knowing God and 
talking with Him. God gave him directions what to 
do and what not to do; Adam had a conscience and 
distinguished between right and wrong. He con- 
fessed and knew he had sinned before he was driven 
from Eden. Gen. 3. (b) He had language and a 
knowledge of natural history; for he gave names to 
the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the air. Gen. 


2: 19-20. (c) That he was not savage is proved /_.. 


from his occupation as a gardener, Gen. 2:15. Itisa 
well-known fact that barbarous or savage men are 
hunters. Nomadic or semizbarbarous men keep cattle; 
it is only when men have advanced to a certain 
degree of intelligence and civilization that they be- 
come agricultural in their mode of life and habits; 
that they dare trust each other enough to lay aside 
their weapons of war. 

2. A study of races and their history shows some 
interesting facts which shed light on this question of 
the original state of man. (a) The traditions of sav- 
age tribes show that they are descended from ances- 
tors who were higher in the scale of civilization. The 
barbarous dwarfs which Stanley encountered in Af- 
rica, show by their language that they are degener- 


58 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


ates. (b) Many instances might be given of inferior 
races which have descended from superior races. 
There is not only an upward but also a downward 
movement. One now visiting Egypt and the regions 
along the Euphrates can scarcely credit the fact that 
here were the seats of the mightiest empires the world 
has ever seen. Where now are the proud peoples and 
the great and mighty cities. Look at their degraded 
descendants and we cannot but exclaim: ‘“ How are 
the mighty fallen.” (¢c) All the skulls of human 
beings, found in ancient caves and burial places are 
equal in brain capacity, so far as cubical contents go, 
to the average European skulls. (d) All the ancient 
civilized nations, placed a golden age of arts and 
civilization in the past. (e) Modern research de- 
clares that ‘‘ we are faced with the strange but unde- 
niable fact, which we also find in studying the oldest 
stone vases and seal cylinders, that Babylonian art 
4000 B. C., shows a knowledge of human forms, an 
observation of the laws of art, and a neatness and 
fineness of execution far beyond the product of later 
times. The flower of Babylonian art is found at the 
beginning of Babylonian history.” Prof. H. V. 
Hilprecht, “Recent Research in Bible Lands,” pages 
88, 89. Prof. A. H. Sayce in the same volume (pages 
102-104) says, ‘‘ The earliest culture aud civilization 
of Egypt to which the monuments bear witness was 
in fact already perfect. It comes before us fully 
grown. ‘The orginization of the country was com- 
plete, the arts were known and practiced, and life, at 
all events for the rich, was not only comfortable but 


OR.GIN AND NATURE OF MAN 59 


luxurious. Egyptian civilization, so far as we know 
at present, has no beginning, the further back we go, 
the more perfect and developed we find it to have 
been. Every fresh discovery brings out the fact into 
clearer relief, . . . the history of Egypt, so far 
as excavation has made it known to us, is a _ history 
not of evolution and progress but of retrogression 
and decay.” Budge in ‘‘ Dwellers on the Nile, (page 
63) in speaking of the sarcophagus of Menkau Ra, 
dated by Brugsch 3633 B. C., says “that however far 
we may go back we never come to an inscription be- 
longing to a period in which we can see that the 
Egyptians were learning to write.” 

3. Conclusion. It is not claimed by adherents of 
the Scriptural accounts that Adam had the advantage 
of beginning from a high stage of civilization as we 
understand civilization to-day, but if we take the nar- 
rative in Genesis as it reads he certainly shows a 
high degree of intelligence. If he had continued 
in harmony with God, it is possible that man might 
have been much more advanced in the arts and 
sciences and soul culture than he is to-day. Adam 
was turned out of Eden fora moral fault. There have 
been successive ages of high civilization followed by 
periods of decadence. The cause has been easy to 
find in lack of morality. The nations have fallen be- 
cause they forgot God. The prophets of the Old 
Testament predicted the downfall of nations by reason 
of sin. Israel and Judah went into captivity because 
of sin. Thefoe of all progress is disobedience of God’s 
laws. 


60 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


QUESTIONS. 


What is the Scriptural view of the origin of man? What can 
be said of the body, the soul? What is meant by the image of 
God? What does the Bible claim for the unity of the race? 
State the five points which seem to substantiate the Bible 
claim? Give the first state of man according to the Scriptures? 
What does a study of races show in regard to the original state 
of man? Why has man failed to make continual progress? 


Xx. 
THE LAW OF GOD. 


PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW. 


“Law is that which binds the conscience. It im- 
poses the obligation of conformity to its demands 
upon all rational creatures.” Moral law impresses 
upon us the necessity we are under to order our 
thoughts and acts according to the will of a supremely 
perfect being who has power to enforce his com- 
mands. 

Man is made in the image of God. Conformity to 
that divine image is the demand and goal of the law 
forman. ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matt. 5: 48. 


BASIS OF THE LAW. 


Law must have some foundation upon which to 
rest. There must be some ultimate authority from 
which it emanates. The Bible declares this ultimate 
authority to be God. This is true not only of moral 
and religious but also of physical and civil laws. 
God is thesupremeruler. All law rests upon the will 
and nature of God. “ All human rights; the authority 
of civil rulers, the rights of property, marriage and 
other civil rights do not rest upon expediency or on 

61 


62 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


abstractions but upon the ordinance of God; they 
might be disregarded without guilt did they not rest 
upon His authority.” ‘“Theism,” as a noted jurist 
has said, “is the basis of jurisprudence as well as of 
law” or moral law. Christ claimed (Matt. 25) that 
He was to judge all nations. He had supreme power 
over nature as well. In the Old Testament God is 
represented not only as judging Israel but all nations. 
The will of God is supreme because He is infinite 
power, wisdom, knowledge and truth. 


THE BOOK OF THE LAW. 


Protestants claim that the Bible, where it is known, 
contains the whole rule of duty for man here on 
earth. Nothing outside of this Word can have bind- 
ing force on the conscience. If this is not held we 
are at the mercy of arbitrary laws in church and 
state, or we are under the tyranny of public opinion. 
Making one’s own ideas of truth and duty supreme 
and independent of the Bible has often led to terrible 
excesses committed in the name of religion. 

Where the Bible is not known Paul speaks of a law 
written in the heart, (Rom. 2: 14-15) which if fol- 
lowed would guide men to some knowledge of the 
truth. 

It is to be noted that there are many laws and 
precepts in the Bible and that there is a diversity 
among them. 

1. The temporary. Some Scriptural laws are 
obligatory only so long as certain relations continue 
to exist, such as marriage, parents and children, ad- 


THE LAW OF GOD 63 


ministration of trusts; when these relations are dis- 
solved in legitimate ways, all obligation ceases. So 
also of certain Jewish ordinances once binding on 
God’s people, such as the commands in regard to 
sacrifice, feasts, clean and unclean meats, etc. 

2. The permanent. Christ sammed up all the 
permanent commandments into two. (1) Supreme 
love to God. (2) Love of one’s neighbor as one’s self. 
Matt, 22: 35-39. These obligations will never pass 
away. 

3. Progressiveness of Divine Law. There is a 
progress in the revelation of God’s will in the Script- 
ures, and a corresponding advance in man’s conscious- 
ness of obligation to His laws. Even the old Jewish 
laws which in themselves seem so hard when taken 
in connection with the times in which they were en- 
acted are seen to be steps of mercy out of the bar- 
barous practices of the surrounding nations. For 
instance, the demand of an eye for an eye, a tooth 
for a tooth was an advance over the old heathen law 
of two eyes for one eye, two teeth for one tooth. 
The claim of a life for a life was a long step up from 
the old custom of not only taking a man’s life where 
he had committed a crime, but also the life of his 
wife, his children and his relatives. The ancients 
went on the principle that you must not only get rid 
of a bad man but that his whole family were tainted. 
If a man finds a rattlesnake he ought not only to kill 
him but all his family he can get hold of. An in- 
stance of the working of this horrible old law is 
found in the action of King Darius and the accusers 


64 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


of Daniel (Dan.6:24). Great light has been thrown 
by recent discoveries upon the Jewish laws showing 
that they were a long way in advance of their times. 
We have passed beyond the Jewish dispensation and 
it goes without question that the law of Christ is 
higher than the Jewish. 

4, Purpose of the Laws given to the Jews. The 
laws may be summed up in three classes under (a) 
“The moral law as revealing righteousness and sin: 
The ten commandments.” (b) The Ceremonial Law 
as revealing redemption from sin and its consequences.” 
(c) “The civil law as cementing together a nation 
which would furnish a place of safety for the develop- 
ment of the divine religion.” 

Everything is calculated to stimulate the spiritual 
life. Sanitary and dietary laws are not laid down as 
such but are made distinctive marks of a consecrated 
people. Details of ritual are prescribed to express 
the sense of the holiness of God in whose service 
they are exercised. 

The effort of the law was to make Israel a holy 
nation. Ex.19:6. Lev. 20:26. Deut. 7:6. 


THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 


We have in the decalogue a perfect civil and reli- 
gious code of laws. Ex. 20: 1-17. Christ said, “If 
thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” 
Matt, 19::17. 

The obligation to obey these laws has not passed 
away. 

1. Theopening appealis made to gratitude. The 


THE LAW OF GOD 65 


Lord had brought the Children of Israel out of a 
hard and cruel bondage. Ex. 20: 2. Out of love 
for them he desires to give them the best laws for 
the highest development of life on earth. 

2. The foundation is relationship between God 
and man. “I am the Lord thy God.” Ex. 20: 2. 

3. The division. The first table of the law sets 
forth: Duties to God: (1) God’s worship. Ex. 20: 3-6. 
(2) God’s name. Ex. 20:7. (3) God’s day. Ex. 20: 
8-11. 

The second table of the law sets forth: Duties to 
man: (1) Man’s honor and life. Ex. 20: 12-13. (2) 
Man’s home. Purity of the home. Ex. 20:14. (3) 
Man’s property. Ex. 20: 15-17. 

4, Penalties and Promises. The kindness and 
love of God for His people is manifest even here. The 
punishment for disobedience of the divine injunc- 
tions is to the third and fourth generation; (Ex. 20: 
5) while the reward for obedience is to the thousandth 
generation; for so commentators explain. Ex. 20: 6. 


THE END OR PURPOSE OF THE LAW. 


The object is to make men pure and holy. The 
great lack in the world is not intelligence but right- 
eousness; likeness to God in His aim and desires. 
Everything in the Bible is made to bend to this end. 
To attain to this is the chief thing in life, to miss it is 
to miss everything. The way to this higher life is 
shown through Christ. He says, “He that abideth in 
me, and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit; 
for without me ye can do nothing.” Jno.15:5. “If 


66 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; 
even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and 


abide in His love.” Jno. 15: 10. 


QUESTIONS. 


What are the principles of the law? The basis of the lawr 
What do Protestants claim for the Bible? Give the difference 
between the temporary and the permanent laws? What can be 
said of the progressiveness of the divine law? Give the four 
points under the Ten Commandments. What is the end or pur: 
pose of the law? 


XI. 
SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 


THE FIRST SIN. 


The revelation in Genesis is given with the inten- 
tion of showing us the “ origin, apostacy and develop- 
ment of the human race as connected with the plan of 
redemption.” The narrative, in one chapter very 
briefly passes over the great facts of the creation of 
the earth and proceeds at once to give an account of 
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden showing how 
they sinned and the dire consequences of that first 
sin. From this time on to the closing chapter of the 
Book of Revelation everything is concerned with the 
fall and salvation of man. Weare intensely concern- 
ed in this sin of Adam for the facts here given under- 
lie our whole doctrinal system. 

Adam was placed in a beautiful garden; he was in 
communion with God; he was given the best possible 
opportunities for advancement; he was limited by a 
single condition (Gen. 2: 7-3: 24) he wilfully dis- 
obeyed a reasonable, righteous command of the great 
Being to whom he owed everything. The tree was 
given as a test “outward and visible to determine 
whether he was willing to obey God in all things.’ 
It seems to be implied in the Scriptures that all 

67 


68 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


rational beings have a definite period of probation; if 
faithful during this time they are confirmed in their 
integrity. ‘“ We read of the angels who did not keep 
their first estate and of those who did.” Jude 1: 6. 
Sin has come into the world, not by God’s will but by 
man’s will. Itis kept in the world by man’s contin- 
ued disobedience of just and righteous laws. The first 
sin has the characteristics of all subsequent sins; 
man wills to do that which he ought not to do. 

1. Cause and nature of the first sin. (a) Doubt 
of God’s goodness. Gen. 3: 5-6. (b) Disbeliefin His 
threatening. Gen. 3: 3-4and6y. (c) Desire for 
forbidden knowledge. Gen. 3: 6. 

2. Effect. The consequences of disobedience 
were immediately apparent. (a) Shame. Adam and 
Eve were ashamed and hid themselves. Sin always 
makes men feel the loss of their innocence and integ- 
rity, and produces a desire for concealment. Gen.3: 
7,8. (b) Separation from God. They did not 
want to see God. Gen. 3: 8. Wicked men do not 
desire to come into communion with God. (c) 
Expulsion from Eden. Gen. 3: 24. No man ever 
yet committed sin who being caught in it did not feel 
that he was cast out from the place he had occupied. 
We frequently see men who have proved recreant to 
great trusts literally thrust out from their places; the 
scorned of all right thinking people. 


THE FACT OF SIN. 


The fact that sin is in the world cannot be denied. 
We see its effects in ourselves and others. It is not 


SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 69 


only a moral and theological but a philosophical 
question as well. 

In Christian and unchristian lands its effects are 
alike manifest. Inthe heart of heathendom, men 
without the teaching of the Bible recognize the fact 
that they have sinned and seek by their barbarous 
worship to propitiate their gods and get rid of sin. 
The cultivated ancient heathen nations when plagues, 
floods, fires or disasters of any kind visited them, laid 
these visitations to the anger of the gods whom they 
had in some way sinned against. 

1. Sinis universal. The Bible declares that all 
men are sinners. “There is no man that sinneth 
not.” Is. 53: 6; 64: 6. “All have sinned and 
come short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3: 23. 
“Tf we say we have no sin, we deceive our- 
selves and the truth is not in us.” 1 Jno. 1:8. In 
his Epistle to the Romans, Paul shows that all, both 
Jews and Gentiles are under sin. Rom. 1: 18-3: 23. 
Christ the savior for all men, came because of the 
universality of sin. He is the universal Redeemer 
being offered to all as the only salvation. 

2. Sin manifests itself very early in the heart and 
the actions of men. When achild is capable of moral 
action we see the beginning of the expressions of 
anger, pride, malice, selfishness and other evil dis- 
positions which if not checked will totally wreck the 
character and spoil the soul. 


WHAT IS SIN? 


Men acknowledging the fact of sin to beindisputable 


70 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


have attempted to account for it in many ways. The 
theories are as numerous as the philosophical schools. 

1. The Christian theologian in seeking to solve 
the problem of sin always takes two things into con- 
sideration: The Personality of God and the moral 
responsibility of man. 

2. Unchristian reasoners have evolved numerous 
answers to this great question. They assert that: (a) 
There are two eternal principles; Good and Evil, they 
are in perpetual conflict. In this world they are in- 
termingled. The Kvil enters into the physical life of 
man the Good into his soul, or the body of man is 
from the kingdom of darkness and the soul from the 
kingdom of light. This theory emphasizes the ne- 
cessity for physical austerities and asceticism to put 
down sin; it degrades God for it makes a power of 
evil coequal with Him; it destroys moral responsi- 
bility, for sin is then something a man cannot help. 
(b) Sin is limitation of being; in fact this theory 
asserts that sin is want of power or of knowledge. 
Weakness or feebleness of any kind is sin. The 
strongest man, the one with the most life in him, 
able to carry out his plans and purposes is the 
most sinless, The victor, no matter how the victory 
is attained, is alwaysright. The man who fails is al- 
ways wrong. This is an idea which prevails in some 
of the present day literature; it leads men to get 
power at any price and to hesitate at nothing which 
will advance them to the place they seek. This the- 
ory denies the existence of a personal God and gives 
liberty to every passion for since the only virtue is 


SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 71 


power the sense of moral responsibility is lost. (c) 
Sin is a necessary evil in the world. If this is so 
then man is not responsible. But the Bible distinct- 
ly declares that sin came into the world by the will 
of man and not the will of God. (d) Sin is of the body 
or our sensuous nature. But here again the Scriptures 
declare that the worst sins, pride, malice, envy, hat- 
red are sins of the soul and the worst sinners were 
the fallen angels who had no bodies but were spirits. 

3. The Protestant Doctrine of Sin is that “Sin is 
any want of conformity unto, or transgression of the 
law of God.” (a) ‘That sin is a specific evil differ- 
ing from all other forms of evil. (b) That sin stands 
related to law. The two are connective, so that 
where there is no law, there can beno sin. (c) That 
the law to which sin is thus related, is not merely 
the law of reason, or of conscience or of expediency, 
but the law of God. (d) That sin consists essential- 
ly in the want of conformity on the part of a rational 
creature to the law of God. (e) That includes guilt 
and moral pollution.” Rom. 8:7; 18:1. 1 Cor, 2:14, 
Ex. 20: 1-6. 


CONDEMNATION OF SIN, 


Sin is everywhere condemned in the Scriptures. “ It 
is something for which we feel remorse and apprehend 
punishment.” EHz.18: 20. Rom.1:18. Acts 17:31. 
Eph. 5:6. Col.3:6. Where the Bible is not known 
men have fashioned for themselves gods and prayed 
to be delivered from sinand wrath tocome. There 
is a universal fear of being under condemnation for 


72 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


sin. But the law of God against sin is different 
from the foolish and fantastic laws of heathendom; 
it emanates from an infinitely wise, good and perfect 
Supreme Being. Whoever sins against the Lord 
God sins against infinite light, purity, and holiness 
and is rightly placed under divine wrath. 


SALVATION FROM SIN. 


The demand of the jaw from man is perfection; 
every man knows that he ought not to sin, and yet he 
commits sin; he feels that this sin is of his 
own free will. There can be no perfection without 
conforming to the law of God. Man has sinned so 
often that he finds himself the willing slave of sin 
and under the condemnation of the law. The only 
way to break his bondage to sin and be free from 
condemnation under the law is through repentance 
and faith in Christ. He cannot regenerate himself; 
he cannot free himself from the penalty of the law; 
his only hope is in Christ. ‘‘ Neither is there sal. 
vation in any other; for there is none other name 
given among men whereby we must be saved.” Acts4: 
12. Matt. 1:21. Acts 10:48. “For there is one God and 
one mediator between God and man, the Christ Jesus; 
who gave Himself a ransom for all.” 1 Tim. 2: 5-6, 


QUESTIONS. 


What can be said of the first sin? Its cause and nature; its 
effect? Is sin universal,—give some proofs? What is sin? 
Give the wrong theories of sin? What is the Protestant doctrine 
ofsin? What can be said of the condemnation of Sin and Sal- 
vation from Sin? 


XI, 
THE COVENANTS. 


A certain school of the Protestant church has set 
forth what is known as the Covenant Theology, while 
there are differences in the form of its exposition the 
following may be taken as the main ideas, 


THE TWO COVENANTS. 


The meaning of the word covenant is a compact or 
contract made between two or more parties. God’s 
plan for redemption of men is generally represented 
under the form of a covenant or rather two covenants: 


Works and Grace. 


THE COVENANT OF WORKS. 


This covenant was made with Adam, (Gen. 2: 
15-17) and was conditioned upon perfect obedience 
to a simple righteous commandment. The first man, 
made in the image of God, was capable of that which 
was demanded of him. 

1. The condition of life, peace, purity, happiness, 
communion with God, was based upon the strict ad- 
herance to the letter of the !aw. 

2. The Promise implied was continuance in life 
under the happiest and best condition. What 
Adam might have become had he obeyed the divine 

73 


74 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


command it is useless to speculate. We know well 
the misery sin has brought in the world. If 
there had been no transgression there would have 
been no punishment “If any man can present him- 
self before the bar of God and prove that he is free 
from sin either imputed or personal, original or 
actual, he will not be condemned.” But the sad 
fact remains that no man can do this, all are under 
sin. 

8. The Penalty was death. It isthought that this 
word “death ” does not refer here to the body as the 
word is used in Scripture to mean spiritual death. 
“The wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:23. “God is 
the life of the soul.” Adam lost the favor of God 
and was subjected to all the evils that flow from sin 
and the displeasure of God. 

4, The Result of the breaking of this first covenant 
If we follow the Scriptures and not some _ phil- 
osophical system we must admit that the whole 
scheme of salvation, in a certain sense, turns upon this 
second chapter of Genesis; they (the Scriptures) rep- 
resent that sin and misery came into the world through 
Adam. “By one man sin entered into the world and 
death by sin and so death passed upon all men.’ 
Rom. 5:12. ‘ For since by man came death, by man 
came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in 
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.’ 
1 Cor. 15:22. We certainly to-day realize the facts 
in the case; the ground is cursed. Men strive and 
fail to gather that which they hoped to reap when 
they sowed. Men earn what they earn by the sweat 


THE COVENANTS 75 


of their brows. What cries the toiling masses send 
up of the hardness of their lot: Sin, outbreaking, de- 
fiant, wilful sin is with us constantly threatening to 
undermine and topple over the great institution of 
civilization. Children are born into the world in 
pain and anguish. This is one side of life to which 
we cannot shut our eyes. If there were no way out 
or this were the whole of life, we should be of all 
men most miserable. 


THE COVENANT OF GRAOE. 


Man had failed of perfect obedience and to keep 
his first estate, sin had entered into the world. If 
man was to be saved and brought back to righteous 
ness there must be a new way by which he could 
come into communion with God. 

We cannot enter into the counsels of God, we can 
only record results. A new way of access to God has 
been provided through Jesus Christ. He became 
the propitiation for our sins. We have through Him 
a new covenant or covenant of grace. We have sal- 
vation from sin through faith in Christ the Son of 
God. Rom. 8:8-13. Gal. 3:13. Heb. 8:6; 12:24. 
Rom. 11: 26-27. ‘“Itis called grace because it orig- 
inated in the mysterious love of God for sinners who 
deserved only His wrath.” 

1. The Relation of God the Father and God the 
Son to this new covenant. It seems to be implied 
in numerous statements in the Bible that the plan of 
salvation was of the nature of a covenant between 
the Father and Son and was formed in Eternity. 


76 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


“When the fulness of time was come God sent forth 
His Son.” Gal. 4:4. ‘ God sent His Son to be the 
propitiation for our sins.” When but a child Christ 
said, ‘‘ wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s 
business.” Luke 2:49. Near the close of His life He 
said. ‘I have finished the work which Thou gavest 
me to do.” Jno. 17: 4. It is evident from these and 
scores of like passages that Christ’s coming was provid- 
edfor. The Prophets present lifelike portraitures of 
what His work would be. The hope of Israel cen- 
tered in the Messiah. Christ was to become incarnate, 
to assume the form of a man, He was perfectly to ful- 
fil the law. Hewas to bear our sins for us, endur- 
ing humiliation, sorrow and death but He was to save 
us from our sins; to deliver us from the power of death. 
His work was to embrace all nations. All this has 
been accomplished by Jesus Christ. All was planned 
before it came to pass, Jno. 1:1-18. 

2. Relation of man to this new covenant. After 
Christ had come and finished His redemptive work, 
the disciples were commanded to proclaim salvation 
from sin for all men through belief in Christ. Matt. 28: 
19-20. (a) The condition of again coming into com- 
munion with God and being restored to His image, 
partaking of His life, is faith in Christ. ‘There is 
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in 
Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after 
the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ 
Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and 
death.” Rom. 8: 1-2. Gal. 2: 16, 20. ete. (b) 
The promises made to those who enter into this 


THE COVENANTS 77 


new covenant are full of blessing. “Eye hath not 
seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the 
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared 
for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them 
unto us by His spirit.” 1 Cor. 2:9-10. “God assures 
us of His favor” and we enter into loving commun- 
ion withhim. Weare Elis peculiar people, the special 
objects of His grace. We shall see the manifestations 
of His glory and come to dwell with Him in heaven. 
Rey. 21: 1-7; 22: 1-7. Rom. 8: 1-18. 

3. Relation of the Dispensations between Adam 
and Christ to the new Covenant. We know that 
Christ has existed from eternity, (Jno. 1:1, 2) and 
that He is the same under all dispensations. He was 
in glory with the Father before the creation of the 
world, Jno. 17:5. He said of Himself. Jno. 8:58. 
“Before Abraham was I am.” 

There are three dispensations spoken of in the 
Bible between Adam and Christ. (a) Adam to 
Abraham. We have here a forward look to Christ in 
the promise that the seed of the woman should bruise 
the serpent’s head, Gen. 3:15. Also the covenant 
with Noah (Gen. 6:18; 9:8-9) and the establishment 
of the rite of sacrifice as the expiation for sin and 
typical of the great sacrificial death of Christ. (b) 
Abraham to Moses. God entered into a special cov- 
enant with Abraham (Gen. 15:7, 18; 17: 2-9) by 
which He promised that in him all nations should 
be blessed. He made him the father of a family and 
nation which was to be the depository of the great 
Promise of the Messiah. Abraham was also the 


78 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


founder of the Jewish church. Christ was of the 
seed of Abraham. (c) Moses to Christ. Here the 
evidence is very clear. Everything was made typical 
of the coming Christ. He was to be Prophet, Priest, 
and King, Ruler over the great messianic kingdom. 
The Prophets of Israel foretell just this state of 
affairs. 

In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews the writer has 
taken this thought for his theme. That the men of 
the Old Testament looked forward by faith to a new 
dispensation: They were not looking to the past or 
hoping to be saved through the old covenant but 
through a new one. Israel had her face set to the 
future. She longed for and saw in faith the face of 
her Messiah. 

“Those old dispensations were temporary and pre- 
paratory.” They have done their work and passed 
away, we now live under the Gospel dispensation 
which is to abide forever, 


QUESTIONS. 


What is the meaning of the word Covenant? What is the cov- 
enant of works? Give thecondition, promise, penalty and re- 
sults of breaking this covenant. What is the covenant of Grace? 
Relation of the Father and Son to this covenant? Relation of 
man, Relation of the old dispensation? 


XII. 
THE THREEFOLD OFFICE OF CHRIST. 


WHAT THE WORK OF CHRIST IS. 


The common doctrine held by the churches is that 
*the work of Christ isa real satisfaction of infinite 
inherent merit, to the vindicatory justice of God; so 
that He saves His people by doing for them and in 
their stead what they were unable to do for them- 
selves, satisfying the demands of the law in their be- 
half and bearing its penalty in their stead, whereby 
they are reconciled to God, receive the Holy Ghost 
and are made partakers of the life of Christ to their 
present sanctification and eternal salvation.” 

Theologians are accustomed to set forth this work 
under the threefold aspect in which it is represented 
in the Scriptures. Christ as Prophet, Priest and 
King. 


CHRIST AS PROPHET. 


This is the teaching office. A Prophet is one who 
communicates the will of God to the people. He 
utters his message in the name of God. 

1. Christ professed to speak in the name of His 
Father. “The word which ye hear is not mine but 
the Father’s which sent me.” Jno, 14: 24. 

2. He was called a prophet. ‘Jesus of Nazareth 

79 


80 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


which was a prophet mighty in deed and in word.’ 
Luke 25: 19. 

3. He ts represented as the Divine Word. “In 
the beginning was the Word and the Word was with 
God and the Word was God.” Jno. 1:1. He is the 
supreme and eternal wisdom. He said “I am the 
way the truth and the life.” Jno. 14:6. He did not 
quote precedents but said, “I say unto you.” He 
taught with authority, boldness, penetration, vitality 
and originality. ‘Never man spake like this man.” 
In matter Hisdiscourses, parables, sayings were about 
Himself, why and how He had come to save men; His 
kingdom; relations of men to God and to each other. 
No man ever revealed so fully the mind of God. He 
is the light of the world; the supreme wisdom. 


CHRIST AS PRIEST, 


This is the office of our Lord in Expiation, Propi- 
ation, Reconciliation and Intercession. 

“The two great objects to be accomplished by the 
work of Christ are the removal of the curse under 
which men labored on account of sin; and the restor- 
ation to the image and fellowshin of God. Both are 
essential to salvation. 

1. A Priest must have, according to the meaning of 
the Old Testament certain qualifications: (a) He 
must come from among men and be selected by God. 
Ex. 28:1. Numbers 16:5, Heb.5: 4. Christ is declared 
to be Priest in the Old Testament. Ps.110:4. Com- 
pare Heb. 5: 6-6: 20, Zech. 6:12, 13. Christ ‘came 
from among men to stand for them before God” 


THE THREEFOLD OFFICE OF CHRIST 81 


Heb. 4:15. ‘He was chosen by God.” Heb. 5: 5-6. 
(b) He must be holy, Lev. 21: 6-8. Christ was 
perfect in holiness. Luke1:35. Heb.7:26. Christ 
is the closest toGod. Jno, 11:42; 16:28. Heb.1:8, 
9: 11-24. (c) He must be able to offer sacrifices be- 
fore God. Ex. 19:22. lLev.16:1-7. Christ offered 
the sacrifice of Himself for our sins. Heb. 9: 26; 10: 
12. 1 Jno. 2:2. 

2. Christ as our High Priest makes intercession 
for us,» Rom. 8:34, Heb. 7:25. 1Jno. 2:1. He 
is our mediator “ For there is one God and one med- 
iator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 
1 Tim.2:5, Heb. 8:6. “He is the propitiation for our 
sins; and not for our’s only, but also for the sins of 
the whole world.” 1Jno. 2:2. His death is vicari- 
ous. 2Cor.5:14, Gal. 3:13. 1 Pet. 3:18. 

3. Christ’s work is affective toward God and man. 
Rom. 3: 25-26. Heb. 2:17. 1 Jno, 2:2;4:10, 1Cor. 
7:23, Gal. 3: 13-24. 1 Tim. 2:6. 1 Pet. 1: 18-19, 
Rev. 5: 9. 

4. Christ our High Priest is superior to the 
Aaronic High Priests. Heb. 5-7 chapters. Christ 
not only has all the qualifications of the earthly high 
priest butin addition, heis the Son of God. Jesus 
has an eternaland unchangeable priesthood and is 
able to save “unto the uttermost them that come un- 
to God by Him, seeing that He ever liveth to make 
intercession for them.” Jesus is our high priest, 
holy, blameless, made higher than the heavens: 

5. Christ in the new covenant is superior in all 
things to the old covenant. Heb. 8: 10-18. ‘ Christ 


82 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


is the high priest of a new and better covenant. He 
is set at the right hand of the throne of the majesty 
in the heavens,” a minister of the sanctuary of God, 
not man. The new covenant is superior to the old 
(a) In place; the old was on earth, its rites and cer- 
emonies in a sanctuary made with hands; the new is 
established in “a greater and more perfect tabernacle 
not made with hands.” (b) In time; in the old the 
high priest entered the holy place alone once a year; 
in the new, Christ has entered once forall. (c) In 
sacrifices; the blood of bulls and goats was shed con- 
tinuously for sins under the old covenant; in the new 
dispensation the blood of Christ once shed is effica- 
cious to cleanse all from sin. Wehave through the 
sacrifice of Christ eternal redemption. 

6. “Christ ts our only Priest.” No man can as- 
sume this office, no man can come between us and 
Christ. He is the only mediator between God and 
man. “All other men being sinners need some one 
to approach to God on their behalf.” It is only 
through Him that God is propitious to sinful men. 
His is the only sacrifice for sin. It is only by Him 
that we can be reconciled to God. Here is the whole 
doctrine of the atonement. 


CHRIST AS KING. 


The universe being one, it was necessary that Christ, 
in order to accomplish His work, should have su- 
preme power. This sovereignty extends over the 
material as well as the spiritual world. Paul in the 
Epistle to the Colossians (1: 15-17) speaking of 


THE THREEFOLD OFFICE OF CHRIST 83 


Christ says: ‘‘ Who is the image of the invisible God, 
the first-born of every creature. For by Him were all 
things created that are in heaven and that are in 
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones 
or dominions or principalities or powers; all things 
were created by Him and for Him, and He is before 
all things and by Him all things consist.” See also 
aia sto. uk Corso n.0.) Ephi-8: 9. Heb. 3/2. 

There are three forms in which this kingdom of 
Christ is presented in the Scriptures: 

1. Christ’s rule over the material world and over 
all men; “The Kingdom of Power” Christ said: 
“ All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” 
Matt. 28:18. When He was upon earth He had but 
to command and nature at once obeyed. He stilled 
the storm on the sea of Galilee with aword. He is 
to judge all men irrespective of the fact whether 
they believe on Him or not. Matt. 25:31,32. Phil. 
2: 9,10. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

2. Chrisi’s rule in the Spiritual Worldand over His 
Church; “The Kingdom of Grace.” He is head over 
the church of God. ‘“ King of every believing soul.” 
Besides Him there is no greater authority. No state, 
no monarch can make laws for His church. “ Every 
believer yields to Him the entire subjection of reason, 
the conscience and the heart.” The Messianic King- 
dom is foreshadowed in the Old Testament. In Gen. 
49: 10 Christ is spoken of under the name of ‘ Shiloh” 
“and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be;” 
in Num. 24: 17 it is said ‘There shall come a star 
out of Jacob and a Sceptre shall arise out of Israel.” 


84 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


Isaiah declared that the Messianic King should be 
called “ Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the 
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, of the in- 
crease of His government and peace there shall be 
no end.” Is.9: 6-7. The prophets set forth the 
glory of this kingdom which came in with Christ. 
The phrases “Kingdom of God” “Kingdom of 
Heaven” were ever upon the lips of Christ. He had 
come as the master of this Kingdom. (See Lesson 
XXIV The Kingdom of God). (a) The conditions 
of admission were repentance and faith. “ Except 
ye be converted and become as little children, 
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” 
Matt. 18:3. “Except aman be born of water and 
the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” 
Jno. 3: 3-5. (b) Faith and belief in Jesus Christ; 
That “He is the Son of God and the Savior of the 
world, (1 Jno. 5:1. Acts 8:37) are also necessary 
for members of this spiritual kingdom. (c) Its 
laws require purity of life and character, supreme 
love to God and love of the brethren. 

3. Christs Rule hereafter. “The Kingdom of 
glory.” The Bible teaches that Christ will come 
again, (Acts 1:11) and that then “ He will gather His 
people into the kingdom prepared for them from the 
foundation of the world.” Then the wicked will be 
separated from the righteous and this kingdom will 
consist only of the redeemed. ‘Those who are count- 
ed worthy of this kingdom shall have great glory, 
honor and power. This kingdom shall never pass 
away. 


THE THREEFOLD OFFICE OF CHRIST 85 


QUESTIONS. 


What is the work of Christ? How do theologians divide this 
work? How is Christ aprophet? What did He say of Himself, 
how did He teach? How is Christ a priest? What was a priest 
according to the Old Testament? What does Christ do for us as 
our high priest? Is His work effective? Howis Christ superior 
to the Aaronic high priests? why is Christ our only priest? 
How is Christ a king? In what three forms is Christ’s Rule pre- 
sented in the Scriptures? 


XIV. 
THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 


MIRACLES. 


It is natural to suppose that God in speaking to 
the human race through His Son Jesus Christ, would 
accompany that message by some special manifesta- 
tions of divine power. These manifestations have 
been given, and we call them miracles. The Bible 
defines them as wonders in reference to the astonish- 
ment which they produce. Mark 2: 12; 4: 41. Acts 
3: 10,11. Signs as tokens of God’s presence. Mark 
16: 20. Powers or works because they are due to 
divine energy. Jno. 5: 386; 8: 21. Acts6: 8. Rom. 
Ibe 19, 

“'The miracles of the gospel were: First, proofs 
that God had sent Christ. Second, they were the 
natural outflow of the divine fulness which dwelt in 
Christ. Third, they were symbols of His saving 
work,” 


REASONABLENESS. 


Miracles are possible, probable, and credible, when 
we believe that there is a personal God, that He is 
the Supreme Ruler of the universe, and that He cares 
for mankind. While a miracle is no greater exercise 
of God’s power, it is a different one: to make a man 

86 


THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST 87 


is as great a marvel as to raise him from the dead. 
Jesus appealed to His miracles as the attestation of 
His divine power. He said: “ Believe me for the very 
works’ sake.” The miracles were done in the open 
daylight. Multitudes saw and proclaimed them. It 
was not in a dark age, but in an exceptionally intel- 
lectual time of the world’s history. The plain fisher- 
men of the lake of Galilee, changed into the world’s 
reformers, by their testimony, caused multitudes to 
believe. 


MIRACLES RECORDED. 


1. There are thirty-six miracles in all, eighteen 
narrated in one Gospel, six in two Gospels, eleven in 
three Gospels, and one in four Gospels. 

2. Narrated in one Gospel only: Two blind men 
healed, Capernaum, Matt. 9. A dumb demoniac 
healed, Capernaum, Matt. 9. Stater in the mouth of 
the fish, Capernaum, Matt. 17. The deaf and dumb 
man healed, Decapolis, Mark 7. A _ blind man 
healed, Bethsaida, Mark 8. When Christ passed 
through the multitude, Nazareth, Luke 4. Draught 
of fishes, Bethsaida, Luke 5. Raising the widow’s 
son, Nain, Luke 7. Healing the woman with an 
infirmity, Jerusalem, Luke13. Healing the man with 
dropsy, Jerusalem Luke 14. Healing the ten lepers, 
Samaria, Luke 17. Healing the ear of Malchus, sery- 
ant of the high priest, Gethsemane, Luke 22. Turn- 
ing water into wine, Cana, Jno. 2. Healing the 
nobleman’s son (of fever) Cana, Jno. 4. Healing the 
impotent man at Bethesda, Jerusalem, Jno.5. Heal- 


88 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


ing the man born blind, Jerusalem, Jno. 9. Raising 
of Lazarus, Bethany, Jno. 11. Draught of fishes, 
Bethsaida, Jno. 21. 

3. Narrated in two Gospels: Healing the daugh- 
ter of the Syrophenician, Tyre, Matt. 15, Mark 7. 
Feeding the four thousand, Gennesaret (?), Matt. 15, 
Mark 8. Cursing the fig tree, Mount of Olives, Matt. 
21, Mark 11. Healing the centurion’s servant (of 
palsy) Capernaum, Matt. 8, Luke 7. The blind and 
dumb demoniac, Galilee, Matt. 12, Luke 11. The 
demoniac in a synagogue, Capernauia, Mark 1, 
Luke 4. 

4, Narrated inthree Gospels: Stilling the storm, 
Sea of Galilee, Matt. 8, Mark 4, Luke 8. The legion 
of devils entering the swine, Gadara, Matt. 8, Mark 
5, Luke 8. Healing Jairus’ daughter, Capernaum, 
Matt. 9, Mark 5, Luke 8. Healing the woman witb 
an issue of blood, Gennesaret, Matt. 9, Mark 5, Luke 
8. Healing the man sick of the palsy, Capernaum, 
Matt. 9, Mark 2, Luke 5. Healing the leper, Gen- 
nesaret, Matt. 8, Mark 1, Luke 5. Healing Peter’s 
mother-in-law, Bethsaida, Matt. 8, Mark 1, Luke 4. 
Healing the man with a withered hand, Capernaum, 
Matt. 12, Mark 3, Luke 6. Healing demoniac 
child, Mount Tabor (?) Matt. 17, Mark 9, Luke 9. 
Walking on the sea, Sea of Galilee, Matt. 14, Mark 
6, Jno. 6. Healing blind Bartimaeus, Jericho, Matt. 
20, Mark 10, Luke 18. 

5. Narrated in four Gospels: Feeding the five 
thousand, Bethsaida Matt. 14, Mark 6, Luke 9, Jno. 6, 


THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST 89 


TEACHING, 


There are two classes of miracles: first, the physi- 
cal, and second, the moral. 

1. The physical miracles are divided into the 
nature miracles, those wrought upon nature, and the 
healing miracles, those wrought upon the body of 
man. 

(a) The nature miracles seem to prove the divin- 
ity of Christ. 1. His omniscience, the miraculous 
draught of fishes. The stater found in the mouth of 
the fish. 2. His creative power, feeding the multi- 
tude. 38. His providential work, stilling the storm. 
4. Judge, the cursing of the barren fig tree. 

(b) ‘The healing miracles show Christ’s humanity, 
His kindliness and sympathy. They reveal the one 
man who loved the race with His whole heart. When 
earthly kings make a progress through a city, all the 
lame, halt, and blind are kept back, but when the 
Heavenly King came, they crowded Him with the 
diseased and the helpless that He might heal them. 
When John sent his disciples to Jesus, to find out 
whether He was the Christ or not, Jesus appealed to 
His miracles of healing, and said, “the blind receive 
their sight, the lame walk.” In curing of those 
troubled with demoniacal possessions, He seems to be 
actually at work as the redeemer of souls. 

This class of miracles shows the mission of Jesus 
to be the extinction of sin and disease, and the re- 
demption of man, body and soul. 

2. The moral miracles are the life of Christ and 


90 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


its effect upon the world, with all that has been 
wrought by His teaching in changing the moral and 
social customs of the world, and specially the contin- 
ual and marvelous changes brought about in the 
hearts of men by the teaching of the gospel. 


CHARACTERISTICS, 


1. Inthe performance of a miracle we find certain 
common points which reveal our Savior as Lord of 
heaven and earth. 

(a) When Christ speaks there is instant obed- 
ience, there is no delay between the command and 
the result desired. The lepers are cleansed, not by a 
long process, but at once. 

(b) There is no uncertainty about the issue. 

(c) Christ shows Himself to be the God of the liy- 
ing and the dead. Itis as easy for Him to bring 
back the dead, as to heal Peter’s wife’s mother. 

(d) Christ exercises the miraculous power by His 
own will and conveys it to His disciples. He says, 
“T will, be thou clean,” to the leper, and in sending 
out the apostles, He gives them authority to work 
miracles. 

2. Christ used the miracles as a means of convey- 
ing spiritual truth, and calling attention to His mis- 
sion. Heopened the eyes of the blind, and then said, 
“T am the light of the world.” He fed the multitude 
and then proclaimed Himself the Bread of Life. He 
raised Lazarus from the dead, and said, “I am the re- 
surrection and the life.” The cursing of the barren 
fig tree foreshadowed the doom of the chosen nation. 


THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST 91 


WORTH AND PURPOSE. 


1, Without the miracles Jesus is but a great and 
wise man; a wonderful teacher, but only a man. 
With the miracles Jesus stands before us the Son of 
God, Himself clothed with divinity. They were 
wrought to show that He who taught these transcend- 
ent doctrines came from God, and therefore all His 
teachings about God, Himself and man, are to be im- 
plicitly believed. 

2. The miracles reveal the character of God and 
Christ. With this infinite power in His possession, 
Christ might have used it to hurt or destroy all who 
opposed Him, but He used it only to heal; even under 
the utmost provocation He would not employ it for 
wrong purposes. Nothing could bring out in fairer 
lines than the miracles, the graciousness and kindli- 
ness of the character of Christ. Even in the Old 
Testament we find that the first miracles were wrought 
by God in behalf of adowntrodden and oppressed race, 
to give it civil and religious freedom. They show 
God always on the side of the oppressed, and against 
the oppressor. 

QUESTIONS. 


What are miracles called in the Gospels? What can be said of 
the reasonableness of miracles? How many recorded mir- 
acles in the New Testament, in one, two, three, four Gospels? 
How many classes of miracles? What are the physical miracles? 
What are the nature and healing miracles and what is the teach- 
ing of each? What is the spiritual teaching of miracles? What 
is a moral miracle? What are the common characteristics in the 
performance of a miracle by Christ? What is the worth and 
purpose of miracle teaching? 


XV. 
THE HUMILIATION 
AND EXALTATION OF CHRIST. 


TEXTUAL STATEMENT. 


“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ 
Jesus: who being in the form of God thought it not 
robbery to be equal with God. But made Himself of 
no reputation and took upon Him the form of a sery- 
ant, and was made in the likeness of men: And be- 
ing in fashion as a man He humbled Himself and be- 
came obedient unto death, even the death of the 
cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him, and 
given Him a name which is above every name: That 
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 
things in heaven and things in earth, and things un- 
der the earth. And that every tongue should confess 
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the 
Father. Phil. 2:5-11. Heb. 2:14-18. 


THE HUMILIATION OF CHRIST. 


In doctrinal form it has been stated as follows: 
Christ’s humiliation consisted in His being born and 
that in a low condition, made under the law, under- 
going the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and 
the cursed death of the cross; in being buried and 

92 


HUMILIATION AND EXALTATION OF CHRIST 93 


continuing under the power of death for a time.” 

Christ’s work on earth was an act of sublime self- 
humiliation. The Lord of Glory became a servant in 
the service of man that he might save him from his 
sins. 

1. The Incarnation. Christ came into the world 
as a little child. We cannot explain the mystery of 
His birth; no one can explain the mystery of the 
birth of a human being, how much less that of a 
supernatural being. He came as the predicted Mes- 
siah. The four written gospels agree at the outset 
that he had come with a purpose to ‘save His people 
from their sins” and that He was the Son of God. 
Matt. 1:21, 2:2, 4,10, Mark 1:1. Luke 1:35, 2:8-11. 
Jno.1:1-5. In His humiliation He was born of a de- 
spised race, into one of the poorest families, and 
obliged to live under the hardest conditions in a 
small obscure town. The place that saw His birth 
was a stable, His cradle a manger. 

His condescension was very marked. He might 
have come with legions of angels, He might have 
reigned as the mightiest monarch but He appeared 
without form or comeliness to be despised and reject- 
of men. But He is endeared to us by this very hu- 
miliation, the hiding of His glory and power that He 
might place Himself beside the lowliest man in order 
to raise him up. 

2. ILInfe on earth. He who had all power, who 
could command the waves of the sea, heal at a word 
or touch, call back the spirits of the dead; performed 
no miracles for Himself. He had no home; He was 


94 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


misunderstood, His gracious presence despised, His 
words rejected, He knew what it was to endure the 
world’s scorn yet He bore it all with the utmost pa- 
tience. Is. Ch. 53. 

He was set to do a work, to bring salvation within 
the reach of every man, Christ born under the law 
in fashion as a man “assumed the obligation to ful- 
fil all righteousness; to do everything which the law 
in all its forms demanded.” He was bound under the 
law of works and under the moral law, to be perfectly 
obedient and to perform every duty even under the 
hardest conditions. This obligation was self-imposed 
but only in so doing could He present Himself a per- 
fect Saviour. “This subjection to the law was volun- 
tary and vicarious.” Gal. 4:4-5. Rom.5:19. Heb. 
5:8-9. Jno. 6:38. Christ was above the law for the 
law emanated from Him but He placed Himself un- 
der all its severest conditions that He might become 
the captain of our salvation. 

3. Sufferings and Death. No one can worthily 
picture the bitter sufferings and the terrible death 
agony of the cross; we look upon them with wonder 
and awe. It deepens our sense of sin that it required 
so great a sacrifice. Christ was without sin yet treat- 
ed asasinner. He had perfectly kept the law yet 
upon His head was visited the full penalty and wrath 
of the law. ‘‘ He was wounded for our transgressions 
He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement 
of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes are 
we healed.” Is. 53:5. He, the spotless, sinless One 
was made sin for us, 2Cor. 5:21. Ps.22, Gal.3:13. 


HUMILIATION AND EXALTATION OF CHRIST 9% 


Rom. 8:3. Matt. ch. 27. Mark ch. 15. Luke ch. 
23. Jno. chs. 18 and 19. 

The Scriptures uniformly declare that the humilia- 
tion of Christ was for the purpose of saving man and 
restoring him to the image of God; and that this work 
is efficacious for all who believe and trust in Him. 


Col.1:14. Eph.1:17. Acts 20: 28. Rom. 3: 24. 
THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST. 


We turn our faces from the darkness to the light, 
“ But now is Christ risen from the dead and become 
the first fruits of them that slept.” 1 Cor. 15: 20. 
“« As Christ died as the head and representative of His 
people His resurrection secures and illustrates theirs.” 

The exaltation of Christ begins with His resurrec- 
tion and restoration to the glory He had with the 
Father before Hisadvent and is continued in the 
greater glory He has as the Savior of men. He is 
now exalted to the right hand of God and shall come 
again to judge the world. 

There are four elements in this exaltation of Christ. 

1. The resurrection of Christ is the most im- 
portant fact in the world; it is the best attested event 
of history. It was foretold in the Old Testament. 
Christ Himself predicted it. The sincerity of those 
who saw Christ after He rose from the dead is shown 
by their willingness to work for the faith they pro- 
fessed and to diein Hisname. The light has come 
and the darkness has fled away. Truth has conquered 
error. Christ is the king of the greatest spiritual 
empire the world has ever seen. 1 Cor. ch.15. (a) 


96 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


Christ appeared after His death to Mary Magdalene, 
(Mark 16: 9,10. Jno. 20:14) to the women, (Matt. 
28: 9) to two disciples on the way to Emmaus, (Mark 
16: 12. Luke 24:18) to Peter at Jerusalem, (Luke 
24: 34), to ten apostles in the upper room, (Mark. 
16: 14. Jno. 20: 19) to the eleven apostles in the up- 
per room, (Mark16:14. Jno. 20:26) tothe disciples 
at the sea of Tiberias, (Jno. 21: 1-24) to eleven 
apostles on a mountain in Galilee, (Matt. 28: 16) 
to five hundred brethren at once, (1 Cor. 15: 6) to 
James, (1 Cor. 15: 7) at the Ascension (Acts 1: 
9-12) to Paul, (1 Cor. 15:8). Those to whom He 
appeared saw and touched Him; they walked and 
talked with Him. 

He came and went in the light of day. He had 
the same body that He had upon the cross yet it was 
changed. He bade them handle Him and see that He 
wasthe same. Luke 24: 36-46. After the ascension 
Christ’s body passed into the glorified state. Phil. 3: 
21. 1 Cor. 15: 35-58. (b) The purpose of the resur- 
rection is stated by Christ Himself ‘“‘ Thus it is written 
and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise 
from the dead the third day, and that repentance and 
remission of sins should be preached in His name 
among all nations beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 
24: 46,47. ‘“ All of Christ’s claims and the success 
of His work rest upon the fact that He rose again 
from the dead.” The gospel at once began to be 
preached everywhere and spread over the then known 
world. The timid apostles strong in this fact became 
brave and these untutored fishermen resting upon the 


HUMILIATION AND EXALTATION OF CHRIST 97 


knowledge of Christ and His resurrection became the 
teachers of the world. 

2. Theascension. The next element in the exalta- 
tion is the ascension. Christ was seen of the apostles 
and others during forty days, (Acts 1: 3) after which 
He led them out ar far as Bethany, (Luke 24: 50) 
and having given them certain instructions ‘“‘ He was 
parted from them and carried up into heaven” Luke 
24:51. They beheld Him as he was taken up and 
“ A cloud received Him out of their sight.” Acts 1: 9. 

Christ came from heaven, it was His home; we are 
taught that heaven is a place, “‘He was carried up 
into heaven.” It was necessary for Christ to return 
to the place of His abode.” (a) That He might be 
our intercessor and mediator before God, having 
accomplished His task on earth. (b) That the Com- 
forter might come and do His blessed work, Jno. 16: 
7. (c) That He might preparea place for us in His 
Father’s house Jno. 14: 2,3. 

3. Supreme power at the right hand of God. 
Mark tells us that ‘“ After the Lord had spoken unto 
them He was received up into heaven and sat at the 
right hand of God,’ (Mark 16: 19. Acts 7: 56) 
“ Angels and authorities and powers being made sub- 
ject unto Him” 1 Peter 3: 22. Paul speaks of Christ 
as being far above all principalities, and power, and 
might, and dominion, and every name that is named, 
not only in this world but also in that which is to 
come.” Eph. 1: 21. 

The Scripture statements upon the supremacy of 
Christ are very strong: Psalms: 2, 45, 72,110. Is. 9: 


98 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


6-7. Dan. 7: 14. Matt. 28:18. Heb. 2:8. Col. 1: 
15-19. 1 Cor. 15: 25-28. Heb. 1:13; 1: 3. 

It is evident from these passages that Christ is 
entitled to divine honor, that He has divine attributes 
and is qualified to exercise divine power. Thus He is 
able to save unto the uttermost. In Him dwells all 
the fulness of the Godhead, yet He can sympathize 
with us and care for us and is not far from any one of 
us. He is our Savior our mediator and the propitia- 
tion for our sins. Although highly exalted in Heaven 
he hears the humblest when they cry to Him and 
succors them in their need. This is a marvelous 
thing that a Being so exalted should love us. 

4. Christ will come again. Luke says that 
after the ascension, “while they looked stead- 
fastly toward heaven as He went up, behold two 
men stood by them in white apparel, which also 
said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up 
into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up 
from you into heaven; shall so come in like manner 
as ye have seen Him go intoheaven.” Acts 1: 10, 11. 
John writes: “To Him be glory and dominion for eve1 
and ever, Amen. Behold He cometh with clouds; 
and every eye shall see Him and they also which 
pierced Him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail 
because of Him. Rev. 1: 6,7. Jesus spoke of His 
second coming. ‘‘ When the Son of man shall come 
in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then 
shall He sit upon the throne of His glory and before 
Him shall be gathered all nations.” Matt. 25: 31, 32. 

From these and similar passages we are plainly 


HUMILIATION AND EXALTATION OF CHRIST 99 


shown that there will be a second coming of Christ; 
not this time in humiliation but in power and glory. 
“His coming will be personal, visible and grand.” 
Then He will be the judge of all nations. The judg- 
ment will be upon the deeds of man done in the body 
(Matt. 25: 54-45) and the sentence will be final. 


QUESTIONS. 


Give the textual statement of the doctrine of the humiliation 
and exaltation of Christ? Give the doctrinal statement of the 
humiliation. How did Christ humiliate Himself in the Incarna- 
tion? In His Life on earth? Sufferings and death? What can 
be said of the Exaltation of Christ and of the four elements 
which compose it? The Resurrection? The Ascension? His 
place at the right hand of God? His second coming and the 
judgment? 


XVI. 
FAITH. 


WHAT FAITH IS. 


An intelligent comprehension of Faith is of great 
importance as all the promises of God in the Scrip. 
tures are conditioned upon it. The definition in 
Heb. 11: 1 is that “‘ Faith is the substance of things 
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The 
primary idea is trust. The view generally held is 
that “ Faith is a conviction of truth founded on testi- 
mony.” By testimony is meant not only the affirma- 
tion of an intelligent witness but also seals and signs 
and everything that pledges the attestor to the truth 
to be established. ‘God also bearing them witness 
both with signs and wonders and with divers mira- 
cles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to His 
own will.” Heb. 2: 4. Rom. 8:16. In the Old Testa- 
ment there are many instances given of attestations 
of the truth. Elijah asked that God might testify 
(1 Kin. 18: 36-46) that He was the Lord God 
and the answer was by fire that comsumed Elijah’s 
sacrifice. But God is often His only witness. 
Abraham did not see all the promises which the Lord 
gave him fulfilled but he had faith to rely solely on 
His word. Heb. 11: 8-10. 


LOO 


FAITH 102 


BASIS OF FAITH. 


Faith rests upon the testimony and authority of 
God and not upon reason or feeling, or else we build 
upon the shifting sands. If wesay faith rests upon 
reason; then whose reason shall it be? Upon feel- 
ing; then whose feeling? In either case we have no 
reliable standard. Reason itself, so much exalted, 
must rest upon a foundation of trust; a man must at 
least have faith in the reliability of his own senses, 
the conclusions of other men upon the subject which 
he is to investigate and in the actuality of the subject 
itself or he will not begin to reason. Feeling is like- 
wise founded upon some belief. Reason and feeling 
are good and very necessary in their proper place but 
not solely as a foundation. 

The Prophets and Apostles declared themselves to 
be witnesses of divine truth. They professed to 
speak in the name of God and by His command. 
Luke 24: 48. Acts. 1: 8; 2: 32; 4: 20; 10: 89-43; 13: 2. 
The complaint in the Grecian cities was that the ° 
apostles did not give the philosophi J grounds ot 
what they taught; the reply was that reason and phi. 
losophy had utterly failed to meet the needs of men 
and to solve the great questions of God, sin, redemp- 
tion, etc., hence they, the apostles, rested their doc- 
trines, upon the authority of God. These doctrines 
the Christian teachers claimed, did solve the great 
problems of life and death. 

We believe that God created the world, we believe 
that God sent His Son to redeem us from sin upon 
divine authority. These are truths beyond human ex- 


102 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


perience and reason. We believe in all the great 
Bible doctrines upon the authority of the Word of 
God. This is the basis of our Faith. But having 
believed we can see that the answers God gives in 
these great doctrines, to our questioning, commend 
themselves to human reason and feeling. God has 
not left us without the witness of great signs, fulfil- 
ment of prophecies, and the attestation of history to 
the truth of what He hasrevealed. But the apostles in 
proclaiming Christ as the Savior of the world 
rested upon His Word. They did not have the testi- 
mony of the ages to the truth of Christ as we have 
it to-day. In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a 
very full explanation of this thought that faith 
rests upon the Word of God. 

We are to believe in God, in the power of Christ 
to cleanse from all sin, in the witness of the Holy 
Spirit; and in the exercise of this belief, this perfect 
trust, we experience the reality of the divine life in 
us. 


THE FAITH THAT SAVES. 


There are some aspects of faith which do not par- 
take of the nature of saving faith. 

1. A belief in the historical truth of the Bible does 
not constitute a saving faith. Many men believe in 
the reliability of the Scriptures the same as they be- 
lieve in the credibility of any set of facts which they 
can test; to them the Bible is a Hebrew record worth 
no more, no less than the record of any ancient people; 


FAITH ! 108 


it is literature to be treated the same as the literature 
of any nation. 

Again there are men and women who having been 
brought up with a belief in the Bible have never de- 
nied its truth;if asked they will tell you that they 
receive the Scriptures as the Word of God. Yet the 
fact is, they are worldly people and these things have 
no influence whatever upon their lives. This has been 
called a “dead faith.” There is no saving grace in it. 

2. A Temporary Faith. Men under the influence 
of a powerful appeal, sudden disaster or sickness will 
often seem to be greatly moved and will embrace the 
truth with zeal. They manifest a strong and earnest 
spiritual life, but their enthusiasm is quickly cooled 
and they lapse back into their former indifferent 
state. Christ described this class in the parable of 
the sower. Matt. 13: 18-23. 

3d. “A Saving Faith” is that which unites us with 
Christ and causes us to partake of His life. Jno. 
15: 4-7. ‘‘ He that hath the Son hath life and he that 
hath not the Son of God hath not life.” 1 Jno. 5: 12. 
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” 
Jno. 5:36. (a) The immediate object of saving faith 
is Jesus Christ. Matt. 16:14-17. Acts 8:37. Jno. 6:68, 
69. 1Jno.4:15. Jno. 9:35-38,11:27. Matt. 14: 33. 
Acts 9:20. Jno. 11:25. (b) The specific act required 
of us is to receive Christ, to believe that He is the 
Son of God. (In this act is included repentance of 
our sins.) He is our Redeemer, apart from Him 
there can be no salvation. “Knowing that a man is 


104 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


not justified by the works of the law but by the faith 
of Jesus Christ.” Gal. 2:16-21. Rom. 8:1. (c) The 
effect is to make a man free from the law of sin and 
death, (Rom. 8: 2) and to give everlasting life. Jno. 
3:36; 6:40-47. 1Jno.5:12. In the eighth chapter 
of Romans this whole matter is ablyset forth by Paul. 


THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 


1. External. The Holy Spirit testifies to the di- 
vine truth in many ways; in the fulfilment of proph- 
ecies, in miracles and in the adaptation of the truth 
of the Scriptures to the needs of the soul. This is 
not a saving knowledge, for a man may be convinced 
of all these things and yet act directly contrary tc 
what he knows to be right, just and true. 

2. Spiritual. We can know of this witness of the 
spirit only by its effects. Jesus describes the way of 
the Spirit in Jno. 8:1-15. The result of this action 
of the Spirit is to give spiritual discernment: that 
Christ is the Son of God, that God’s laws are holy, 
just and right. Jno. 14: 26; 16:7-15. The fruit of 
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentle- 
ness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Gal. 5: 
22,23. In the second chapter of first Corinthians Paul 
declares that he relied for his inspiration and ability 
to preach the gospel upon the power of the Spirit. 
The apostles in the beginning of their ministry could 
do nothing until they were endued with the Spirit 
and the day of Pentecost had come. Acts, chapters 1 
and 2. Christ before He left the earth in His bodily 
form promised the coming of the Comforter who is te 


FAITH 105 


abide forever and teach all things. Jno, 14: 16-26. 
He will give us spiritual discernment. 

“Tf a man cannot see the splendor of the sun it is 
because he is blind. If he cannot perceive the 
beauties of nature and art,it is because he has no 
taste. If he cannot apprehend the concord of sweet 
sounds it is because he has not a musical ear. If he 
cannot see the beauty of nature or the divine au- 
thority of the moral law, it is because his moral sense 
is blunted. If he cannot see the glory of God in His 
works and Word it is because his religious nature is 
perverted, and in like manner if he cannot see the 
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, it is because 
the god of this world has blinded his eyes.” This is 
the position of the Bible in regard to those who say 
they do not have faith in God. They are blind to the 
greatest things in the universe. 


QUESTIONS. 


What is faith? Give a definition. What is the basis of faith? 
Why believe upon authority and not on reason or feeling? What 
is the faith that saves? What is meant by a dead and a tem- 
porary faith? What is saving faith? What is the witness of the 
Spirit, external and spiritual? 


XVII. 
REGENERATION. 


THE ACT OF REGENERATION. 


1. Regeneration is an inward change wrought in 
the soul by the grace of God. The word is used, not 
to include justification and sanctification but, to de- 
note the change from spiritual death to spiritual life. 
Regeneration is not an act of the sinner, no man can 
impart this new principle of life to his own soul. He 
may desire and pray for it as a man born blind may 
long to have his eyes opened. Regeneration, it is 
everywhere taught in the Scriptures, is an act of Al- 
mighty power and can alone be performed by God. 
When Christ raised one from the dead it was an act 
of omnipotence. He alone could do it. Jno. 5:21. 
Tit. 3:5. Eph. 2:5.1Cor. 15:10. Gal. 1: 13-16. 

2. The nature of this act is not explained in the 
Scriptures, all we know is that the author is God. 
The subject is the soul and the manifestation is a new 
life. 

3. The responsibility for regeneration rests with 
man. Itis an act of Sovereign grace, but God does 
not desire the death of the sinner. He sent Christ 
that He might show His lovefor sinners. Every un. 
regenerate man either does not desire this new life ox 

106 


REGENERATION 107 


feels that he never sought with all his heart to have 
God regenerate his soul. “Every man who comes 
short of eternal life knows that the responsibility 
rests upon himself.” He does not seek that which 
God alone can give, yet every believer realizes that 
he is not saved of himself but of God. 1 Cor, 1: 30-81. 

4, This change tis wrought in the soul and is called 
by various names: “A new heart.” “A new birth.” 
The regenerate man is a new creature. “If any man 
be in Christ he isa new creature.” 2 Cor. 5:17. Noth- 
ing avails tosave a man except this new life. Gal. 
6:15. ‘As the change is neither in the substance 
nor in the mere exercises of the soul, it is in those 
immanent dispositions, principles, tastes, or habits 
which underlie all the conscious exercises and deter- 
mine the character of the man and of all his acts.” 
The regenerate man thinks and acts from a new basis. 


THE NEED OF REGENERATION. 


The world has gone wrong; men in an unregenerate 
state are sinners. They do not act right. Their 
thoughts are not upon God. All have sinned and 
come short of the glory of God. The world is full of 
instances of oppression, wrong and wickedness, in high 
and low places. Men are acting from a wrong prin- 
ciple and thought of life. The Scriptures are full of 
this thought. Rom. 7: 8-9. Eph. 4:22. Rom. 1: 18. 
1 Cor. 2:14. Yet when the Bible speaks of men as 
spiritually dead it does not mean to imply that they 
do not apprehend, to a certain extent, moral truth, or 
that they are wholly remiss in regard to their polit. 


108 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


ical and social obligations, but it does mean to say that 
spiritually they are dead. Spiritual truths do not 
_ awaken in such men any response; they care nothing 
for them. They pay no attention to things pertain- 
' ing to salvation. They are not concerned about the 
Spirit of God. A man born blind may hear, feel, 
taste, smell, but of the whole class of objects of sight 
he has no real conception. This may serve as an 
illustration of an unregenerate man. But the blind- 
ness in a spiritually unrenewed man is the deadness 
of his soul: the need of his seeing and knowing truths 
that can only be spiritually discerned is very great; 
his very life depends upon it. He belongs to a class of 
men “having the understanding darkened, being 
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance 
that is in them because of the blindness of their 
heart.” Eph. 4:18. 2 Cor. 3:14; 4:14. 1 Jno. 2:11. 
Col. 2: 13. Eph. 2: 1, 


THE EFFECT OF REGENERATION. 


After Jesus had opened the eyes of a blind man the 
Pharisees asked him how it wasdone; the reply of 
the man was: “‘ Whereas I was blind I now see.” Jno. 
9:25. This has been called the “ Blind man’s Creed.” 

Men “know they have passed from death unto 
life” by certain changes in inward and outward re- 
Jations. The new life shows itself : 

1. In new views of the revealed truths of God. “It 
is opening the eyes to the certainty, excellency and 
glory of divine things.” A man not only has peace 
and satisfaction but delight in the Word of God. He 


REGENERATION 109 


has clear and new views of God, Christ, the Holy 
Spirit, sin, holiness, and the doctrines which are 
essential to salvation. The mind is spiritually illu- 
mined that it may receive the knowledge of the Lord. 
“This is life eternal that they might know Thee the 
only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent.” 
Jno. 17:3. Gal. 1:23. Phi. 3:8. 1 Tim. 2: 4, 5. Col. 3: 
10, 11. “The soul enters upon a new state, it is intro- 
duced toanew world.” Thesoul desires spiritual things. 

2. In love of divine truth. It no longer seems 
hard or unpalatable but full of beauty. ‘ Love is the 
fulfilling of the law.” Rom. 18:10. 1 Cor. 13. Matt. 
22: 36-40. 1 Jno.5:1-5. 

3. In love of the brethren. There is a change of 
attitude toward those who serve God. ‘ We know we 
have passed from death unto life because we love the 
brethren.” 1 Jno. 3:14. 

4, In bearing fruct for Christ. ‘“ Every good tree 
bringeth forth good fruit.” Matt. 7: 17. Rom. 7: 4. 
Eph. 5:9. Gal. 5:22. Wesee the manifestation of 
Christian graces in all the churches; it is shown in 
the living, in the giving and doing for Christ. 

The whole soul is included in this change. ‘The 
mind is illuminated, the eyes of the understanding are 
opened; the heart is renewed; the will is conquered 
or the man is made willing.” 


QUESTIONS. 


What is the act of regeneration? The nature of the act? Who 
is responsible for it? What is this change called? State the 
need of regeneration? What are the four effects of regenera- 
tion? Does it effect the whole man? 


XVIII. 
JUSTIFICATION. 


STATEMENT OF JUSTIFICATION. 


How shall a man be just before God? is a ques. 
tion which lies at the bottom of all attempts to effect 
a reconciliation between a righteous God and a sin- 
ful man. 

1. The divine law requires perfect obedience in 
every particular. The Scriptures teem with state- 
ments of the demands of the law, its penalties and 
its judgments. God condemns sin, and sin is any 
want of conformity to His law. The claims of justice 
are inexorable. Since sin has come into the world 
no man can perfectly keep the law. All men are un- 
der condemnation, all are guilty, all deserve punish- 
ment. Noman can be saved through the law. This 
way is closed. But just here is the place where God 
comes through Jesus Christ to meet man in his need 
and extremity. He has provided a way by which 
man may stand free before the law. The antece- - 
dents on the part of man are that he shall repent of 
his sins and have faith in Jesus Christ; these things 
are perfectly possible on his part: they are not a 
ground of his being declared just before the law but 
they must precede it. 

110 


JUSTIFICATION 111 


2. Justification is an act of grace on the part of 
God to the sinner. He pardons his sins and accepts 
him as righteous for the righteousness of Christ im- 
puted to him and received by faith. The sinner de- 
serves condemnation when God justifies him. A 
man who has broken a human law may truly and bit- 
terly repent, but the law seizes him and inflicts the 
penalty. God is kinder than human law in that the 
penalty is remitted not by repentance on the part of 
the offender, but through the righteousness of Christ 
who has paid the penalty. But it should be born 
in mind that repentance of sin and faith in Christ are 
necessary antecedents to the remission of the judg- 
ment or penalty. Jno. 3:17,18. Rom. 5:18-21. 

3. Justification produces no change in a person, 
(in this respect it is not like Regeneration) neither 

it the act of a sovereign pardoning a criminal, but 
the act of a judge declaring that the law is satisfied. 

There is therefore now no condemnation to those 
who are in Christ Jesus.” Rom. 8:1. 


THE GROUND OF JUSTIFICATION. 


1. Throughout the New Testament the only ground 
of the justification of the sinner is declared to be the 
righteousness of Christ; this includes His perfect 
obedience and His enduring the penalty of the law in 
our place. 1Jno.1,7. Phil. 3:9. 

2. No man can be justified by the works of the 
law. “ Knowing that a man is not justified by the 
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, 
even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we 


112 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by 
the works of the law; for by the works of the law 
shall no flesh be justified.” Gal. 2:16. The sinner 
pleads not his own merits but the merits of Christ, 
before the bar of God. 

3. The redemptive work of Christ is founded 
upon the thought that He has done for us what we 
could not do for ourselves. His righteousness is — 
imputed to us. He is our vicarious substitute. He 
was made sin for us. He died for us. ‘The chas- 
tisement of our peace was laid upon Him.” We look 
to Him, we flee to Him, we lay hold upon Him, we 
have no righteousness of our own, He is our only 
help and Savior, Everything depends upon Him; 
our pardon and our salvation. “Therefore if any 
man be in Christ he is a new creature.” 2 Cor. 
5: 17-21. 

4, The argument in Pauls Epistle to the Romans 
is to prove that Christ is the only ground of justifica- 
tion. There are four main positions: (a) All are 
guilty before God; the Gentiles without the law, the 
Jews with the law have failed to attain to righteous- 
ness. (b) All need a Savior. (c) Christ died for 
all. (d) Weare all through faith one body in Him. 

A brief analysis of the doctrinal part of the epistle 
shows very clearly the line of thought. (1) The 
great theme stated, Justification by Faith in Christ. 
Ch. 1:16,17. (See Hab. 2:4.) (2) All have sinned 
and all are guilty, Gentiles and Jews. Ch. 1: 18-3, 
20. (8) Righteousness for all comes through faith 
in Christ, (Ch. 3:21-31) not by the law or works, 


JUSTIFICATION 118 


Abraham was justified by faith and not by works. 
Ch. 4. The blessedness of justification by faith in 
Christ. Ch. 5. The objection that free grace will 
multiply sin or discredit the law is answered in Ch. 
6:1-8. This isa masterly presentation of the great 
theme of justification. 


THE BENEFITS OF JUSTIFICATION. 


1. The law has no more power over us. We are 
dead to the law and alive to Jesus Christ. There is 
no fearful looking forward to judgment and wrath to 
come. If we are really in Christ and truly united 
with Him we are free from the power of the law of 
sin and of death. Rom. 6:14-23. In view of this we 
are exhorted to “stand fast therefore in the liberty 
wherewith Christ has made us free and be not again 
entangled with the yoke of bondage. Gal. 5:1. 

2. Weare reconciled with God and have fellowship 
with Him. We enter into His plans for the redemp- 
tion of sinners. We are the true children of God. 
Gal. 3:26. Rom. 8:15. 

3. Eternal life. “And if children then heirs; 
heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ; if so 
be we suffer with Him that we may be also glorified 
together. For I reckon the sufferings of this present 
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory 
that shall be revealed in us.”? Rom. 8:17, 18. Blessed 
are they that do His commandments that they may 
have a right to the tree of life and may enter in 
through the gates into the city.” Rey. 22:14. “And 
they shall see His face and His name shall be in their 


114 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


foreheads. And there shall be no night there and 
they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the 
Lord God giveth them light and they shall reign for- 
ever and ever.” Rev. 22:4, 5. 


QUESTIONS. 


Give a statement of this doctrine of justification? What does 
the law require? What is justification? Does it produce any 
change ina person? What is the ground of justification? Give 
the argument in the Epistle to the Romans. What are the ben- 
efits of justification; name the points? 


XIX. 
SANCTIFICATION. 


MEANING OF SANCTIFICATION. 


1. Itis quite necessary to have clearly in mind 
not only what sanctification is but also how it differs 
from Regeneration and Justification. Regeneration 
is the implanting of a new principle of life in the 
soul by the Spirit of God, a quickening of the whole 
man, “ but it does not effect the immediate and en- 
tire deliverance of the soul from all sin.” Justifi- 
cation is a forensic act by which, when a man 
has exercised repentence and laid hold upon the 
righteousness of Christ he is declared by the merits 
of Christ to be justified before God and free from the 
penalties of the law; the perfect obedience of Jesus 
is accepted in place of the imperfect obedience of the 
sinner; the man is still in a state of imperfection. 

2. Sanctification is subjective or what the Spirit of 
God does in the soul in carrying on and perfecting 
the work of grace begun in regeneration and follow- 
ing the act of justification. A man raised from the 
dead may be a long time in coming to a condition of 
health. A dead soul quickened into life by the 
spirit of God may have much in its nature uncon- 


115 


116 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


genial to the new spiritual life. ‘The conflict be- 
tween the old and the new may be protracted and 
painful. 

3. Definition. Sanctification is said to be “the 
work of God’s free grace whereby we are renewed in 
the whole man after the image of God and are en- 
abled more and more to die unto sin and live unto 
righteousness.” 

It consists essentially in two things (a) Growth of 
the principle of life implanted in regeneration, ex- 
pelling uncongenial things and conforming a man to 
the image of Christ. (b) Destruction of the evil 
choices and habits of the soul which are prevalent in 
the life. It is more advanced in some than in others, 
Rom. 7: 15-25. Gal. 5:16, 25. Eph. 4: 22-24, 

4, This view of sanctification conforms to the 
Bible representation and human experience. Good 
men in whom the Spirit of God dwells and who have 
given their lives into His keeping, are tempted and 
wage a warfare against sin and evil. Yet they con- 
tinually strive for higher attainments in Christian 
life and character, and looking to the Spirit of God 
for help they are more and more made like unto the 
image of Christ. ‘ Brethren” said Paul in writing 
to the Philippians, “I count not myself to have ap- 
prehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those 
which are behind, and reaching forth unto those 
things which are before, I press toward the mark 
for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus,” 
Phil. 3: 13, 14. 


SANCTIFICATION 117 


CHARACTER OF SANOCTIFICATION. 


2. It is Supernatural. The supernatural differs 
from the natural in that an effect wrought by the 
former can never come out of the latter; itis beyond 
any presentation of the truth or power of man to 
accomplish. ‘Neither is he that planteth anything, 
neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the in- 
crease.” 1 Cor. 3:7. God is made the author of 
this act. “The very God of peace sanctify you. 
wholly.” 1 Thes. 5:23. Tit. 2:14. Heb. 13: 20, 21. 

2. Itis not the effect of reformation or education 
and should not be confounded with the results 
wrought by them. (a) A man may reform from an 
evil life from various causes; he may see that he is 
ruining himself, his prospects or his family by his 
excesses: outwardly his conduct may become exceed- 
ingly correct; he may pride himself on his integrity. 
But there is no holy principle of life within. He is 
not striving to be conformed to the image of Christ. 
He has not lost the love of sin. Make it possible for 
him to return to the evil way without receiving the 
penalty and he will go back. (b) Culture and 
education often produce very good characters; 
marble statues are often exquisitely beautiful but 
they have no life; they are made from without. (c) 
Sanctification is of the heart, a living principle of 
life within the man, it has a purpose and an object to 
which it strives to attain; it is not to be simply as 
others or to conform to the morality of the time and 


118 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


country but to attain to the likeness of Christ; by it 
a man is united with Christ and partakes of His life 
and power. Jno. 15:1-10. Jesus in His sermon on 
the Mount places great stress upon growth in grace 
from within outward. “Out of the heart are the 
issues of life.” See Matt. chs. 5-7. 

3. The soul cooperates inthis work of grace. A 
man cannot cause this principle of life to grow in his 
heart but he can pray, hope, desire and remove all 
possible obstacles to the free action of the Holy 
Spirit. In factin order that this supernatural work 
may be accomplished in his soul, a man must be 
active and diligent in watchfulness and in prayer and 
exercise faith in his Savior committing his whole 
life to Jesus Christ. Col. 3: 12-16. Eph. 4: 22-32. 

4, Sancitfication is progressive. Menrenewed by 
the spirit of God make advancement in the divine 
life and continually come nearer to the divine ideal. 

A difficult question has been raised in regard to 
the possibility of perfect sanctification in this life. 
The whole manner hinges upon the meaning given to 
the terms used. If absolute perfection is meant, 
perfect conformity to all God’s requirements, in the 
most rigid sense in which these words are used; then 
the answer by all parties is in the negative. ‘The 
most advanced believer has need as long as he con- 
tinues in the flesh, daily to pray for the forgiveness 
of sins.’ Where perfection in sanctification in this 
life is claimed the meaning is that so far as the man 
is able he has performed all the service required of 
him and has come as near to obeying the law as it was 


SANCTIFICATION 119 


possible for him in his circumstances todo. ‘“ This 
perfection includes two things: (a) A perfection pro- 
portioned to the powers of each individual. (b) A 
desire of making continual progress and of increasing 
one’s strength more and more.” All of which admits 
the possibilities of growth in righteousness so long as 
na man lives in the flesh. The standard is “ Be ye 
therefore perfect even as your Father which is in 
heaven is perfect.” Matt.5:48. 2-Cor. 4:18. 


FRUITS OF SANCTIFICATION. 


No man’s soul can continuously be in union with 
Christ and be acted upon by the Holy Spirit without 
bringing forth fruit. 

1. Inward. The thoughts, desires, feelings and 
-ambitions of the man are changed from evil to good, 
he acts from an entirely different standpoint. Rom. 
7: 22. Eph. 3: 16. 

2. Outward. The outward life conforms itself to 
the inward. The man takes delight in saying kind 
words and doing unselfish good deeds, and in building 
ap the kingdom of God. His hope is to be like 
Christ. Phil. 3: 7,8. 


QUESTIONS. 


State the difference between Regeneration, Justification and 
Sanctification. Give a definition of sanctification? In what 
two things does it consist? What isits character? Is itsuper- 
natural? How does it differfrom reformation and education? 
How does the soul cooperate in this work of grace? Is 
sanctification ever attained in this life? State the matter on 
which the whole question hinges. What are the fruits of 
sanctification? 


XX. 
THE SCRIETURES. 


WHY WE BELIEVE AND STUDY THE BIBLE. 


The reasons for faith in the Scriptures and diligent 
study of them are so many and weighty that in this 
short lesson only afew can be mentioned and these 
but with brief consideration and explanation. 

Protestants hold in general (a) ‘That the Scrip- 
tures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of 
God, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit 
and are therefore infallible, and of divine authority in 
all things pertaining to faith and practice. (b) 
That they contain all the extant supernatural revel- 
ations of God designed to be a rule of faith and 
practice to His church. (c) That they are 
sufficiently perspicuous to be understood by the peo- 
ple, in the use of ordinary means and, by the aid of 
the Holy Spirit, in all things necessary to faith with- 
out the need of any infallible interpeter.” 


SUPERIORITY. 


The Bible leads the world’s thought in righteous- 
ness. It isnow and always has been in advance of 
its times, 

If we compare the religion of the Old Testament 

120 


THE SCRIPTURES | 121 


with the religions which were around it when it 
came into existence we find it superior. 

1. In the object of worship. The old heathen 
nations worshiped many gods, there were thousands 
of them. The Israelites were commanded to wor- 
ship but one God. Ex. 20:3. 

2. In the intention of sacrifice. The heathen 
freely offered human sacrifices; their gods were 
cruel and bloodthirsty. The Israelites were ordered 
to offer animal sacrifices; the intention of those who 
offered the sacrifices wasto enter into relation with 
a holy God. The Sin offering signified access to God; 
the Burnt offering, consecration to God and the 
Peace offering, communion with God. (See the 
Book of Leviticus.) God approaches man and ap- 
‘points this way of sacrifice as an atonement for sin 
and accepts through His mercy the sacrifice of the 
victim instead of the death of the sinner. Lev. 16: 
80. All this looked forward to the Lamb of God 
which taketh the sin of the world. Jno.1:29. Heb. 
10: 12. 

3. In the character of God. By research and 
excavation we are having brought to our attention 
the evil characters of the gods which the ancients 
worshiped. The Assyrians and Babylonians were 
cruel because their gods were so. ‘The Greeks and 
Romans adored gods who were impure and they be- 
came sensual. The savagery of the races of northern 
Europe is ascribed to the gods of Odin and Thor 
who were personifications of bloodthirstiness. But 
the Israelites were only in favor with Jehovah when 


122 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


they kept the law of righteousness. Ex. 20: 1- 
17. God, our God is pure and holy and cannot abide 
sin. 

‘Most of the so-called heroes have conquered by 
shedding other men’s blood. Christ conquered by 
allowing men to slay Him.” 

4. In the law of retahation. Some condemn 
the Old Testament for saying “Eye for eye, tooth 
for tooth” but there was a great advance on heathen 
laws which said two eyes for one eye, two teeth for 
one tooth. The progress of this law in the New 
Testament is very great. Matt. 5:17-48. The old 
heathen laws declared that when one man slew 
another that not only his own life but the lives of his 
whole family were to be forfeited. Dan. 6:24. The 
Bible came with the law that only the man’s life who 
had done the murder should be taken. (See Mozley’s 
Ruling Ideas in early Ages.) The New Testament 
is still far in advance of men’s actions with the great 
precept: ‘Love your enemies.” Matt. 5: 44. 

5. Inthe spirit of expectation. Everything in 
the Scriptures looks forward to something better and 
higher. Habbakuk saw only evil in his times yet he 
could sing wonderfully of the hope in God for the 
future. Hab. 3:17-19. 

UNITY OF PLAN AND SINGLENESS OF PURPOSE. 

There are sixty-six books written at widely different 
times by about forty men yet they form one complete 
whole; they tell a single consistent story; they move 
towards a certain end. Every known form of literary 
composition is made use of. History, poetry, oratory, 


THE SCRIPTURES 123 


prophecies, proverbs, autobiographies, letters, apo- 
calypses, all are used as vehicles of divine truth. 
The one aim is to show the plan of salvation. In 
this unity of plan the literature of the Hebrews dif- 
fers from that of any other people. 


SURVIVAL. 


The Bible contains an account of the only religion 
which has survived the civilization and times in 
which it was born. When Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, 
Greece, Rome, fellas empires their gods died with 
them. Where now is Isis and Osiris, Jupiter, Juno, 
Mars and the host of heathen gods and godesses once 
deemed so mighty? Their temples’ are in ruins, 
they have not a single worshiper; but this is just 
what the Old Testament Prophets said. The Lord 
He is the only God. But when Jerusalem fell Chris- 
tianity did not fall, when Rome went down Chris- 
tianity survived. If every modern nation should go 
down in some great war cyclone Christ and His relig- 
ion would still live. Jesus is to-day the mightiest 
factor in the political and religious life of the 
world. 


HISTORICAL TESTIMONY. 


In “ Recent Research in Bible Lands,” edited by 
Prof. H. V. Hilprecht Ph. D., D. D. the strong testi- 
mony of the monuments of Babylon, Assyria and 
Egypt to the accuracy and the truth of the Bible 
narrative is very clearly shown. Prof. J. H. Mc Curdy 
Ph. D., LL. D. says on page 9 of this book, “ what 


124 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


then are our principal gains from Egyptological re- 
search? In the foremost rank we have the splendid 
vindications of the accuracy of the writer of the ac- 
count of Israel’s sojourn in lower Egypt. What is 
said in Genesis and Exodus of the character of the 
country, its government and its court and the cus- 
toms of the people are shown to be pictures faithfully 
drawn from the life.” The same may be said of the 
results of the work done in research in other portions 


of Bible lands. 
GREAT IDEALS OF LIFE AND CHARACTER. 


Men who have not really studied the Bible talk 
about its being outworn, but who has yet attained to 
the perfect keeping of the old law in the Ten Com- 
mandments, much less the lofty ideals of righteous- 
ness and truth set forth by Christ in the Sermon on 
the Mount. Some attack the Bible because it repro- 
bates sin and demands a pure life. What higher 
characters are there than those of Abraham, Joseph, 
Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
Daniel, John, Paul and our matchless divine Christ. 
These have not been equaled in the history of the 
world. Weneed high ideals and great characters, 
The painter, the sculptor, the writer, the business 
man, everyone, needs to be guided by the best or he 
will fail; they act as a stimulus to men to incite them 
to do their best. ‘‘ Even as the mountain peak stim- 
ulates the strong limbed climber and the picture of a 
great painter the young artist.” 


THE SCRIPTURES 125 


RIGHT RELATIONS, 


The Scriptures place us in right relations (a) with 
God; They teach not only that He is our Creator 
but our Father and we are His children; that He loves 
and cares forus. Matt. 10:29-31. Lukel11:2. (b) 
With men; the brotherhood of man is taught. We 
are to love all men as we love ourselves. Mark 12:31. 
(c) with ourselves; through Christ we are set free 
from the law of sin and death. All things are ours 
because we trust in Jesus. There is no cause for dis- 
couragement in life, no cause for fear of death. Rom. 


§:2.° Gal. 5: 1.) Jno. 8: 36. 
THE CLAIM OF THE WRITERS. 


They assert that they speak by the authority of God 
“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will 
of man; but holy men of God spake as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Pet. 1:21. 1 Thes. 2: 
Poe iter bo. 6 tux, 42°15, Jer 1: 9), Ts. bb? 
LO Acts 2aH25.) 1 Cor..14: 37, )'1. Jno.) 5: 9-Ll.. 
Cor. 2: 7-18. Jno. 13:20. Gal. 3:16. Matt. 10: 20, 
Acts 2: 4;13:2. 2 Cor. 2:12. Luke 12: 12. 


A REVELATION. 


There are three ways in which the Bible is studied. 
(a) Reading into it that which men wish to see in it; 
certain wrong philosophical and metaphysical specu- 
lations are often forced into books and passages of 
Scriptures. (b) Reading out of it that which men 
do not want to see in it. For instance men do not 


126 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


believe in the miraculous, or in future punishment, 
when passages which contain these elements are 
encountered they are ignored or explained away. On 
either of these lines of study the Bible may mean 
anything or nothing according to one’s fancy; all 
sorts of doctrines may be read into or out of its pages. 
Just here is where there is much trouble. Men claim 
for the Scriptures that which they do not teach. The 
only true method (c) is to read the Bible as it is; to 
find out what it teaches from its own standpoint, com- 
paring Scripture with Scripture and using all possible 
aids to elucidate its meaning. It is certainly a 
literature but it is not a literature alone. One 
who simply studies it as such will not find 
the clew of the maze or the key to unlock its 
mysteries. It claims to be a Revelation of God to 
men from first to last: there is a supernatural element 
which cannot be ignored for the whole structure 
rests upon it. The fact that it is a revelation can be 
tested; it claims to have life in it and to impart life. 
If we put a bit of bone ora glass bead in the earth 
they will not germinate or bring forth; a seed will. 
Take this Bible, teach it wherever there are uncon- 
verted men and it is found to have the force and 
potency of life in it to change an evil man into a good 
one. The truth and power here manifested show the 
supernatural element to be not dead but living. “The 
law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.” Ps. 
19: 7. Matt. 28: 19, 20. 1 Cor. 2: 4-5; 1: 21. Ps. 
119: 105. Heb. 4:12. Ps, 119:4-8. Jer. 23: 29, 
Acts 26:18. Jno. 17:17. 


THE SCRIPTURES 127 


QUESTIONS. 

Why do we believe and study the Bible? What do Protestants 
hold in regard to it? What are the points of superiority in its 
religion over the old heathen religions. Object of worship? In- 
tention of sacrifice? Character of God? Law of retaliation? 
Spirit of expectation? What can be said of its unity of plan 
and singleness of purpose? Survival? Great Ideals of life and 
character? The claim of the writers? How is it a revelation? 


XXI. 
PRAYER. 


THE BASIS OF PRAYER. 


_ Among the means of grace is prayer or the com. 
munion of man with God. We express in it an ap- 
peal for divine mercy; thanksgiving for the goodness 
of the Lord; dedication of self to His service; desire 
of the divine favor for ourselves and others; and ad- 
oration of the divine perfections. 

In effectual prayer it is necessary that we should 
have right thoughts about God; these may be classed 
under three heads: 

1. The Personality of God. He is not a torce or 
a blind fate, neither does He stand for a power that 
comes to consciousness in the world or man, but He is 
a person with whom one can hold converse as Moses 
did when He appeared to him in the burning bush. 
Ex. 3: 6. 

2. Nearness of God and His willingness to help. 
He is in the heavens and also upon the earth. “The 
Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him.” Ps. 
145: 18. ‘God is our refuge and strength; a very 
present help in trouble.” Ps. 46: 1. 

3. His Providence extends over all _ creation, 
there is nothing that is excluded from His control, 

128 


PRAYER , 129 


He created and governs the earth and the universe, 
Gen. 1. Jno. 1: 5. 

Denial of one or all of these propositions will cause 
the soul to lose faith and become spiritually dead. 
Men claiming to speak in the light of scientific knowl- 
edge meet us at each one of these three points and 
dispute it but not one of these gentlemen can explain 
some of the most simple processes in nature; even 
Prof. Huxley himself declared that no man fully un- 
derstands what the order of nature is. How can they 
then presume to dictate upon higher things? Hume 
said long ago that a miracle could not be true because 
it was against the order of nature, but if now no man 
can tell us what is in nature (we are discovering new 
things every day which ehange the old scientific 
ideas) his argument falls to the ground. 

It must be perfectly possible that the Lord in the ex- 
ercise of His providential wisdom and power should be 
able to answer the prayer of His people. It isan every 
day occurrence for man to deflect the beams of the sun 
and make nature’s laws do what they would not have 
done if left to themselves. We know men to be per- 
sonal and to have certain power, we know that men 
are changed by petitions to their mercy, and entrea- 
ties to use their power in certain directions. We be. 
lieve that God, the maker of man and possessed of 
the greatest power and glory, can be entreated and 
may use His power for the benefit of the petitioner. 
itis not unreasonable for men to pray both for spir- 
itual and material blessings. The Scripture every- 
where encourage men to pray to God, and assert 


130 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 
that the prayer of faith can and will be answered, 
CONDITIONS OF ACCEPTABLE PRAYER. 


For success in anything there are always certain 
necessary conditions that must be observed; omitting 
them there is no hope of obtaining that which is de- 
sired. Unanswered prayer is often the result of care- 
lessness in the preparation of the request that is 
made to God. The Bible is very clear and explicit 
in its directions to those who would seek the throne of 
grace. Some of the requisites for acceptable prayer are 
(a) Faith, a man must believe in God; that He is and 
that He hears and answers prayer. ‘“ Without faith 
it is imposible to please Him for he that cometh to 
God must believe that He is and that He is a reward. 
er of them that diligently seek Him.” Heb. il: 6. 
Mark 11: 24. Jas.1:6. (b) Reverence, God is the 
Almighty and we are not hastily to rush into His 
presence with no care for our words. Ec. 5: 2. (c) 
In the name of Christ and not throngh any goodness 
of our own. Jno. 16: 26. (d) For ourselves we 
must pray with sincerity and earnestness. Luke 11: 
5-13; with forgiveness for wrong done us (Mark II: 
25, 26.) In secret (Mat.6:6.); Always (Luke 18: 
1. Eph. 6: 18. 1 Thes. 5: 17); Doing His will 
(Jno. 9:31); “Continuing instant in prayer” (Rom. 
12: 12. Col. 4: 2); Everywhere (1 Tim. 2: ©); Abid- 
in Christ (Jno. 15: 7). (e) The model prayer was 
given by Christ Mat. 6: 9-13. 


PRAYER 131 
ANSWERS TO PRAYER, 


The Bible records many instances of answered 
prayers in the physical and spiritual realms. ‘‘ Once 
admit the doctrine of theism, that is, of the existence 
of a personal God and of His constant control over 
all things outside of Himself, and all ground for 
doubt as to the efficacy of prayer is removed, and it 
remains to us, as it has been to the people of God in 
all ages, the great source of spiritual joy and strength, 
of security for the present and confidence for the fu- 
ture.” 

Notable instances of prayer are shown in the fol- 
lowing Scriptural passages selected from many: 
Abraham; Gen. 18: 23-32. Lot; Gen. 19:19. Elie- 
zer; Gen. 24:12. Jacob; Gen. 32:9. Joshua; Josh. 
7:6-9. Gideon; Jud. 6:18. David; 2 Sam. 7:18. 1 
Chr. 29: 10-12. Solomon; 2 Chr. 6:12. Elijah; 1 
Ki. 18: 86. Hezekiah; 2 Kin. 20:2. Isaiah; 2 Kin. 
20:11. Ezra; Ez. 9: 5,6. Nehemiah; Neh. 2: 4. 
Dan. 9:3. Jon. 2:1. Apostles; Acts 1:14. Proph- 
ets and teachers at Antioch; Acts 13:3. Paul and 
Silas; Acts 16:25. Paul and the elders at Ephesus; 
Acts 20:36. Paul and the people of Tyre; Acts 21:5. 
Two prayers of Christ; Matt. 6: 9-13. Jno. 17: 1-26. 

Nothing could indicate more plainly than this 
great stream of prayer flowing through the Bible that 
God cares for and loves men and is not indifferent to 
their wants. He is not a God afar off, neither has 
He wound up the universe as a great machine and 
left it to its fate. He is in touch with His people. 


132 BIBLE StODY BY DOCTRINES 


He hears them when they cry unto Him. He is 
long-suffering, merciful and righteous. Happy is 
that man who loves God with all his heart, and comes 
into constant communion with Him. 


QUESTIONS. 


What is the basis of prayer? Upon what three things must it 
rest? How is it possible for God to answer prayer? Give some 
of the conditions for acceptable prayer. What can be said ot 
God’s answers to prayer recorded in the Scriptures? What do 
they indicate? 


XXII. 
THE EARLY CHURCH. 


The purpose in this chapter is not to give a defin. 
ition of the Christian church or to trace its develop. 
ment and history since the New Testament times, but 
simply to describe or picture it as it existed in the 
apostolic age. 

We learn from the book of Acts the story of the 
organization of the first churches. The epistles of 
Paul show the churches at work, their problems and 
their faith, 


ORGANIZATION. 


1. The basis of organization was the fraternal 
equality of believers. Matt. 23:8. 

Instead of a sacerdotal order, there was a universal 
priesthood. The beginning of a church was like 
that of a family. Lucian, the humorist, said of the 
early church members: “ Their Master has persuaded 
them that they are all brothers.” 

2. They ateincommon. (Acts 2: 46.) Not only 
in the instance mentioned in the Acts, but it was the 
custom continued for a long time to have a meal at 
the close of the religious services, which was called 
the Agape or Love Feast. After this meal the com- 
munion service was held. 

133 


134 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


3. They held property in common. (Acts 4: 33, 37.) 
In the dawn of the new faith, men were so impressed 
with the spirit of Christian brotherhood that there 
was no desire to have things for themselves; there 
was an implicit trust in Christ and their brethren. 

4, The church at first was at one place, as at Je- 
rusalem, The churches in different cities were never 
separate, but one, and were known as the church at 
Ephesus, Rome, etc., although there might be many 
meeting places in each city. 1 Cor. 1:2. 1 Thes. 1:1. 

5. The officers. The deacons were appointed to 
look after the poor of the church (Acts 6), in order 
that the apostles might give themselves wholly to 
teaching the people. 

6. The elders (overseers or bishops), were set to 
watch over the temporal well-being of the brother- 
hood, and to superintend the religious worship; at 
first they were to rule, not to teach. Acts 20: 17-23, 
Tit. 1: 5-7. 

All looked up to the apostles as the teachers and 
governors in matters of religious faith and practice. 

7. The meeting places were in private houses. The 
connection of the churches was not official; there 
was no hierachy; they were bound together by ties — 
of Christian love and sympathy alone. 


WORSHIP. 


1, The worship was a spontaneous expression of 
devout feeling. 

2. The order of service was sometimes copied 
from that of the synagogue service. There were read 


THE EARLY CHURCH 185 


selections from the Scriptures; the exposition of the 
lesson followed, with spontaneous speaking. If a 
letter from an apostle had arrived, it was read to 
the assembly; there is no trace of a liturgy, al- 
though oftentimes the Lord’s Prayer was used. The 
hymns were mostly from the Psalms. Those who 
were accustomed to meet in these gatherings admin- 
istered the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s 
Supper in their origiv4l simplicity. 

Again, there was no particular order of service. 
No one man -onducted the service as with us, but all 
took part. The believers, except on Sunday knelt in 
prayer. They did not kneel on that day because it 
was Christ’s resurrection day. 


GIFTS. 


There were extraordinary manifestations of divine 
power in the early church; we find mention of these 
manifestations in the Charisma, or gifts, as they were 
called. 1 Cor. 12: 1-11. 

1. The gift of teaching: the interpretation of di- 
vine truth already revealed. (b) The gift of tongues, 
where one under the influence of divine power said 
things which, though not understood by the person 
speaking, or assemblage, were of importance. (c) 
The gift of interpretation given to another made it 
possible for these things to be understood. (d) The 
gift of prophecy was not the foretelling of future 
events, but a fervent outpouring of Christian truth. 

2. The gift of miracles was the power to heal 
disease. 1 Cor. 12: 9-10. 


136 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


Word picture of a Christian church by a heathen 
writer: The letter written to the emperor Tragan, 112 
A. D., by Pliny, who was exercising proconsular 
powers in Bithynia, gives a vivid picture of the 
Christian church. He examined many Christians in 
regard to their worship and with a view to finding 
charges against them. ‘They affirmed,” he says, 
that they were wont to meet together on a stated day 
before it was light, and sing among themselves alter- 
nately a hymn to Christ as a God, and to bind them- 
selves with an oath, not to the commission of any 
wickedness, but that they would not be guilty of 
theft, or robbery, or adultery; would not falsify their 
word, or refuse to return a pledge committed to 
them, when called upon to do so. When these things 
were performed, it was their custom to separate and 
then come together for a meal, which they ate in 
common but without disorder.” 


RELATION TO SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE. 


The church was not to supplant but to sanctify the 
natural relations. (a) Mixed marriages (a heathen 
with a Christian), were strongly condemned. (b) 
Amusements, which were in the heathen cities wholly 
vicious and brutal, were severely let alone; wherever 
any social customs demanded a recognition of magic 
or idolatry, they were shunned and discountenanced. 
(c) In the relation to the state, while the brethren 
were recommended in case of disputes to bring them 
before the arbiters of the church, yet it was held that 
the state existed by divine right, and though the 


THE EARLY CHURCH 137 


magistrate was a heathen, he was in that position to 
be treated as holding his authority from God. 

There was a refusal however to comply with the 
mandates of the state which stood in conflict with the 
express requirements of the gospel. 


QUALITIES AND PURPOSE. 


Two qualities were especially prominent. (a) The 
love of the Christians for one another. (b) Love for 
their enemies. This love appeared in their heroic 
patience and endurance of persecutions. 

There was an intense enthusiasm for the faith and 
propagation of it. 

There was an extraordinary religious elevation and 
purity of conduct. 

The church sought to eradicate the selfishness in 
man, out of which all forms of injustice sprang, and 
aimed to effect nothing else than the moral renova- 
tion of society. 

The church had to set itself against (1) worldli- 
ness and to oppose evil. (2) Asceticism which grew 
out of a tendency to literally interpret the words to 
forsake all and follow Jesus. 

There were abuses which arose from the former 
lives of believers, and the mixture of the Jews and 
Gentiles, but abuses were to be expected. It is sur- 
prising when we consider the material with which 
the church has to deal, that there were so few. 

Thus there arose in the midst of the Roman em- 
pire a widespread, rapidly growing community, which 
gave supreme allegiance to Christ, the invisible King. 


138 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


QUESTIONS. 


What is the source of our information in regard to the organi- 
gation of the first churches? What was the basis of the organi- 
zation of the primitive church? Did they hold property in 
common? Were all the churches in a city under one govern- 
ment? What were the two classes of officers? Where were the 
meeting places? What was the order of worship? What can be 
said of the Charisma or gifts? Give the substance of the letter 
of Pliny in regard to the worship of the early Christians. What 
was the relation of the church to the social and political life? 
Give the qualities and purpose of the early church. 

Book for further study: “ History of the Christian Church.”— 
Fisher. 


XXII. 
THE FUTURE STATE OF THE SOUL. 


PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 


“ Tf a man die shall he live again?” Job 14:14. 
This is a question as old as man; it has been dis- 
cussed in all ages by all men, the learned and the ig- 
norant, the savage and the civilized. There is no 
scheme of philosophy and no system of religion in 
_ which it does not have a prominent place. 

1. Jn our own time an effort has been made along 
materialistic lines to show in how many ways man 
resembles the brute creation. (a) In his body, 
bone, muscle, and general structure. (b) In his na- 
ture, appetite and passions. (c) In life and death; 
when the brute dies that is the last of him; man, hay- 
ing the structure of the brute, also dies like him. 
(d) Conclusion: ‘‘ Let us eat and drink for to-morrow 
we die.” There is no higher life. This has been 
aptly termed “The Dirt Philosophy.” 

2. In all time and especially since the age of 
Christ, the teaching of the Bible has been to show in 
how many ways man resembles God. (a) Man has a 
body fashioned by God which is the temple of the 
Holy Ghost; it is therefore to be kept clean and 
pure, Gen. 1: 26; 2:7. 1Cor. 6:19, 20. (b) In 

139 


140 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


nature, mind and soul, man was made in the image 
of God. Gen. 1: 26,27; 2: 7. In his moral, spiri- 
tual and intellectual image. (c) Man is given the 
hope of a future life to be lived with God. (d) Con- 
clusion: Therefore let man strive to live like God; 
to prepare in this life to live through the countless 
ages of eternity; to walk worthily while on earth of 
his high birth and noble calling. Matt. 5: 48. 

3. Philosophers and religious teachers in every 
race and nation have had glimpses of this great 
truth of the immortality of the soul. Hence we have 
their arguments from (a) analogy; (b) universal ex- 
pectation; (c) persistency of a belief that there 
must be a future state in which the evil man would 
reap the penalty for his bad deeds, and the good man 
the reward that he merited for his well-spent life. 
But after all these are but arguments. 

4. The certainty of a life beyond the grave rests 
upon Christ’s resurrection and by it is placed beyond 
the shadow of a doubt. Argument stops here be- 
cause our feet are upon a fact. We can now see all 
the intimations of immortality converging to that 
one point. Jno. 14:19. Jno. 14:1-38. 1 Cor. 15: 
12-23. 


THE OLD TESTAMENT DOCTRINE. 


We have the fact of a life after death foreshadowed 
in the Old Testament; the light is not nearly so clear 
as in the New Testament, still it is here. Christ 
Himself, speaking to this point said: “And as touch- 
ing the dead that they rise; have ye not read in the 


THE FUTURE STATE OF THE SOUL 141 


Book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him 
saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of 
Isaac and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of 
the dead but the God of the living.” Mark. 12: 26, 27. 
Genesis teaches in its first chapters that man was 
created immortal and free from sin; only the body 
was formed from the dust of the ground, not the soul. 
In a number of Old Testament passages we see this 
doctrine of the immortality of the soul plainly set 
forth: “ For Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; 
neither wilt Thou suffer Thine holy one to see corrup- 
tion.” Ps.16:10. Ps.17:15. “Thy dead men shall 
live, together with my dead body shall they arise.” 
Is. 26:19. The doctrine is very clearly stated in the 
book of Daniel: (12:2) “And many of them that 
sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some to 
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting 
contempt, and they that be wise shall shine as the 
brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many 
to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” In 
Heb. 11: 13-16, the Old Testament worthies are re- 
presented as strangers and pilgrims on earth and as 
seeking a better country. Read in the light of the 
New Testament these texts seem very clear upon the 
point in question. The Jews certainly believed in a 
future life when Christ came. Acts 23:6; 26: 6-8. 


THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCTRINE. 


It is one thing to believe in a doctrine which is 
founded upon certain passages scattered here and 
there like rays of light and another thing to behold 


142 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


the source of the light. In the New Testament we 
see Christ the only sure hope for our immortality. 
Because He lives we shall live also. Jno. 11: 25, 26. 

1. Weare here taught “ The continuous personal, 
conscious, individual existence of the soul after 
death and the dissolution of the body.” 1 Cor. 15: 
538. Jno. 14:3. The Gospels, the Epistles, and 
Revelation are filled with this thought. The apos- 
tles everywhere proclaimed the resurrection from the 
dead. Acts. 3: 15. The other world was very near. 
to the early Christians; they spoke of death as a 
sleep. Thousands of martyrs gave up their lives in 
the full assurance that they would immediately be 
with Christ in heaven. John wrote in the book 
of Revelation in the most graphic way of the 
glories of the new Jerusalem. Rev, 21: 10-27. 
The state of blessedness after death is for believers 
in Christ. 1 Cor. 15:57. Rev. 14:13. 

2. Many New Testament passages teach that the 
probation of the soul ends with death. “It is ap- 
pointed unto men once to die but after this the judg- 
ment.” Heb. 9:27. See also the Parables of the 
Rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) and the Ten 
Virgins (Matt 25: 1-13) spoken by Christ in illustra- 
tion of this subject; He says at the conclusion of the 
latter parable. ‘ Watch therefore for ye know neither 
the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” 
Matt. 25:18. ‘Blessed are they that do His com- 
mandments that they may have a right to the tree of 
life, and may enter in through the gates of the city,” 
Rey. 22:14. The Protestant doctrine shows that 


THE FUTUTE STATE OF THE SOUL 143 


“There is no satisfaction to be rendered in the future 
life for sins done in the body.” One of the most 
liberal ministers in Chicago said on a certain Sunday 
at the conclusion of his sermon: “ Happiness and joy 
are possible only in harmony with the moral order of 
the universe; to go against this is to go unto dis- 
order, confusion, shame, remorse, misery and moral 
death.” But he was only repeating what the Bible 
tells us. Matt. 25:35-46. Rev. 21:8; 22:15. But 
no man need to go astray unless he will for “The 
Spirit and the Bride say come, and let him that 
heareth say come and let him that is athirst come, 
and whosoever will let him take the water of life 
freely.” Rey. 22:17, Christ shall judge all men in 
righteousness, 

3. Perfection in holiness. “The Protestant 
doctrine is that the souls of believers are at death 
made perfect in holiness.” John says: “I heard a 
voice from heaven saying unto me, write, Blessed 
are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; 
yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their 
labors and their works do follow them.” Rey. 14: 13. 
In the Scriptures this life on earth is uniformly re- 
ferred to as a state of conflict and strife Phil. 1: 23. 
When a man dies in the Lord he is said to enter into 
rest, not upon another period of conflict. It is some- 
times objected that this is not possible, that a soul 
cannot be so changed by death; no, death may not 
change the soul of the believer but Christ can change 
it; when He was upon earth He healed at a touc_, 
He opened the blind eyes at a word; He called back 


144 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


the spirits of the dead. In the conversion of Paul 
his heart was in an instant changed from hate to 
love of Christ. It is reasonable and possible that this 
same Jesus should perfect the souls of His followers 
when they enter upon the blessed state after death. 

From the general trend of the New Testament 
teaching it is quite evident that those who trust in 
Christ are with Him after death, (2 Cor. 5: 2. Jno. 
14:1-3) although there may be a more blessed state 
after the general judgment. 

4, But with what body do they come? “Paul has 
given us an elaborate argument upon this glorified 
body in 1 Cor. 15: 35-54. (a) We shall have a body 
in the future life, a distinct body. Christ had a body 
like and yet unlike that which He had before His 
resurrection. The apostles knew Him to be the same 
Christ, He had the marks of the cross in His hands, 
and feet and side. ‘ We must exist somewhere, no- 
where or everywhere.” Nowhere is no existence, 
everywhere is simply a part of the universal being, to 
exist somewhere is to exist in connection with a 
body. (b) we do not have this body, we do not sow 
the oak but the acorn, we do not plant the rose-bush 
but the rose-slip, not the apple but the apple seed; 
In the product we have the same yet not the same. 
(c) “It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.” 
Often weak, emaciated by sickness, worn by disease, 
troubled by care here, it is raised a glorious body. 
(d) “It is sown in weakness it is raised in power. 
It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual 
body.” Here the physical predominates. We see 


THE FUTURE STATE OF THE SOUL 145 


things through the veil of the flesh, we desire things 
physical. We have a part with the animal. There 
the veil of the flesh is taken away; the spiritual pre- 
dominates: We see things as God would have us see 
them. 


QUESTIONS. 


Is the question of the immortality of the soul of universal 
interest? What is the nature of the effort which is being made 
along materialistic lines? What is the uniform teaching of the 
Bible? Have philosophers and religious teachers of all ages 
had glimpses of this truth? What is really the only ground of 
certainty? What is the Old Testament doctrine? The New 
Testament doctrine? What is taught about the conscious °x- 
istence of the soul after death? Does the probation of the soul 
end with death? What is perfection in holiness? With what 
pody do we appear in the other world? 


XXIV. 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 


THE KINGDOM IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 


We have a New Testament “ Because Jesus Christ 
came into the world, an epoch-making personage in 
the history of religion and revelation’; we look into 
its pages to see what were His thoughts and ideals, 
He spoke much about “ His kingdom.” ‘The King- 
dom of Heaven” and “The Kingdom of God.” He 
sought to explain what the Kingdom was like 
(Matt. 13: 11, 19, 24, 31, 33, 44, 45, 52; 22: 2); the 
time of its coming (Matt. 24:14); its completeness 
(Matt. 24: 86); the conditions of entrance (Matt. 25: 
1-14); that He was to sit on His throne at last 
judging all men (Matt. 25: 31, 32) and that all power 
was givento Him in heaven and in earth. The Old 
Testament prophets were continually writing about 
the New Kingdom that was to be ushered in with the 
Messiah. Isaiah wrote of Him “The Government 
shall be upon His shoulders; and His name shall be 
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The 
everlasting Father, The Prince of peace, of the in- 
crease of His government and peace there shall be no 
end. Isa. 9:6, 7. 

1. “There are four leading types of doctrine in 
the New Testament.” 

146 


THE KINGDOM OF GOD 147 


(a) The Kingdom of God. Matthew, Mark and 
Luke. 

(b) Eternal life. John’s Gospel. 

(c) Free access to God. Hebrews. 

(d) Righteousness of God. Paul’s Epistles, 

Every earthly kingdom stands for certain ideals, 
Kurope and the United States stand for much higher 
ideals of life than Turkey or India, China or Africa. 
The Kingdom of God sets forth the very highest 
thoughts in regard to religious, political and social 
matters. 

2. In the Bible there are“ Four Conceptions of 
the Kingdom of God.” 

(a) Reign of God over all creatures. Natural 
Law. 

(b) Reign of God over men and nations. Moral 
Governor. 

(c) Reign of God over Israel. National God. 

(d) Reign of God as Divine Love over human 
hearts believing in Him and constrained thereby to 
yield Him grateful affection and devoted love. (Dr. 
A. B. Bruce.) 

It isthis fourth conception that is set forth in the 
New Testament; the other conceptions are no less 
true but the special work of Christ was to re veal this 
supreme rule of Divine Love. 


THE FOUNDER OF THE KINGDOM. 


Christ did not come simply as the Messiah of the 
Jews but His mission was to the whole world. He 
came to conquer by the might of love and truth, to 


148 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


meet the deepest wants of men and to be the Light 
and Savior of all not to be superseded but to remain 
the eternal Christ. He came out of one nation but 
He was too great for any one nation. Matt. 28: 18. 

1. He claimed to be Messianic King, (Matt. 26: 
64; 27:11, 37; 26: 53, 54) and to be the Christ, (Matt. 
16: 16, 17) the Son of the Living God. He said: 
“Tam the way, the truth and the life.” Jno, 14: 6, 
“ He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Jno. 
14: 9. ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away but my 
words shall not passaway.” Matt. 24:35. 

2. He iscalled the “ Son of man.” Jno. 5: 27 and 
6: 27. Assuch Jesus stands in a relation of solidar- 
ity and sympathy with the whole human race, The 
kingdoms of the earth are founded upon force; 
their symbols are the beasts and birds of prey, the 
lion, the bear, the eagle. Jesus’ kingdom is based 
upon love and sympathy; His symbol is that of a 
suffering and triumphant man. 

3. He 1s Called the “ Son of God.” Luke 1: 35. 
Jno. 1: 49. Not in the sense that all men are sons 
of God (a) in an official sense. He was announced, 
(Luke 1:35-41) baptized, (Matt. 3:16, 17) and did His 
work as the Son of God. Matt. 16:16,17. (b) In 
an ethical sense. He knew the Father as no man 
can know Him. He had entered into all His plans. 
Jno. 14: 7, 


THE MAIN DOOTRINES OF THE KINGDOM, 


These are concerned with four subjects: 
1. God. In the Old Testament He has been in a 


THE KINGDOM OF GOD 149 


certain sense shown as the national God, dwelling for 
a time in the Holy of Holies, ministered to by priests, 
appeased by sacrifices but now He has come forth to 
visit all His children with gracious compassion. He 
is represented in the Lord’s prayer as “ Our Father.” 
He is the Father of all men. “ He isa spirit” and 
must now be worshiped not with sacrifices and in a 
temple but “in spirit and in truth” Jno. 4: 23, 24, 
God’s care for man is taught in the lesson of the 
sparrows. 

Man is beaten, buffeted and betrayed by his best 
friends, he feels himself alone; but so likewise was 
Christ yet He was God’s only Son. In no condition 
of life can we get beyond God’s wondrous love and 
care, | 

2. Man. Weare apt to look upon a man as worth 
something when he has a place and position in the 
world, but Jesus looked upon a man stripped of goods 
and character and pronounced him worth saving. 
Luke 19: 10. On the other hand no amount of 
wealth which a man could accumulate would com- 
pensate for the loss of the soul. ‘ What shall it 
profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and 
lose his own soul.” Mark 8:36. Pantheism regards 
man as insignificant and a part of nature but Christ 
taught the worth and dignity of man. Matt. 6: 25-34, 
Jno. 3: 16. 

3. Sin and sinners. There is a difference here. 
Sin was something awful to Christ. He used strong 
language in regard to it. He said it was better to 
pluck out the right eye and cut off the right hand if 


150 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


they offended in sin rather than that the whole body 
should be cast into hell. Matt. 5: 29, 380. For the 
sinner Jesus had the utmost campassion and love. 
He believed in the redeemablenessof mankind. For 
this cause He came into the world. Luke 15: 1-24. 
4, Righteousness. Christ’s aim is the perfection 
of motive and character; thatthrough right principles 
of thought and action each man may become selfz 
legislative. He had positive ideas of righteousness. 
The Pharisees of His time had the law and had set a 
hedge about it; they were concerned with an outward 
observance of rules. Externalism; they performed 
religious duties to be seen of men. Jesus began with 
the heart, inward obedience. The Pharisees began 
with the exterior, making clean the outside: hence 
the clash between Christ and the Pharisees, The 
way of Christ is the only way of true righteousness. 
He laid down only two great laws. Love to God and 
love to man, (Matt. 22: 37-40) and “on these two 
commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 


CONDITION OF ENTRANCE. 


1. Faith. Againand again Christ makes the con- 
dition of healing to depend upon faith. He does it 
all but He says to the afflicted, “ According to your 
faith be it unto you,” as though nothing could be 
done without it. Faith is belief in Christ, what He 
says, what He does, what He teaches, Luke 5:20; 
17:19; 7:50. Gal. 3:24. 

2. Citizenship in this kingdom is worth having; 
for it a man might well sacrifice everything. See the 


TEE KINGDOM OF GOD 151 


Parable of the Hid Treasure and Pearl of Great Price. 
Matt. 138; 44, 45. 


THE EXTENT AND FATE OF THE KINGDOM. 


The New Testament passages on this subject are 
of two kinds; one of which represents a large growth 
from a small beginning like the mustard seed and 
the leaven, (Matt. 13: 31-33) and the other a sudden 
ending when all things are ready and the harvest is 
ripe. Matt. 13: 24-30 and 36-43. 

We know positively three things about this king- 
dom: 

1. That tt will be progressive. Isaiah said long 
ago “Of the increase of His government and peace 
there shall be no end,” Is. 9:7. John the Baptist 
predicted of Christ that “He must increase.” Jno. 
3:30, Jesus gave the parables of the mustard seed 
and the leaven (mentioned above) to show how His 
rule should advance in the world. The apostles 
thought at first that Christ had come to establish an 
earthly kingdom; they could not comprehend the 
greatness of His plans. We are just beginning to 
see the largeness and magnificence of His empire. 

2. Universal. Christ attached His religion to no 
country and no race, no caste or class. He said: “Go 
ye therefore and teach all nations.” Matt. 28:19, 
Peter had to struggle at first to get rid of his national 
prejudice but at length even he declared, (Acts 10:34- 
35) “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of 
persons: But in every nation he that feareth Him, 
and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.” 


152 BIBLE STUDY BY DOCTRINES 


Zechariah (9:10) prophesied long ago, “ His domin. 
ion shall be from sea to sea and from the river even 
to the ends of the earth.” The heathen religions be- 
longed each toa particular nation. The conception 
of a religion as something apart from the state was a 
thought entirely foreign to the heathen mind. In 
christianity men as men irrespective of nation or 
condition are commanded and entreated to seek par- 
don and reconciliation through the universal Savior, 
3. LHverlasting. Every other kingdom and power 
shall pass away but this shall endure forever. ‘ Be- 
hold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of 
heaven . . . and there was given Him dominion 
and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations and 
languages should serve Him; His dominion is an 
everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and 
His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” 
Dan. 7: 18, 14. “For behold He cometh with clouds 
and every eye shall see Him and all kindreds of the 
earth shall wail because of Him. EKvenso Amen, I 
am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the 
Ending, saith the Lord which is which was and 
which is tocome. The Almighty.” Rev. 1:7,8. 
QUESTIONS. 


What is this kingdom as spoken of in the New Testament? 
Give the four leading types of doctrine. How many conceptions 
of the Kingdom of God are there in the Bible? Name them. 
What is the sense in which this Kingdom of God is used in the 
New Testament? What can be said of the Founder of the King- 
dom? What are His two titles and what do theysignify? What 
are the Ideals of the Kingdom? The Righteousness? The 
condition of entrance? The Extent and Fate? 


Printed in the United States of America 10 








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